Quotes from Inherit the Wind

“All motion is relative. Maybe it's you who've moved away by standing still.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“It's the loneliest feeling in the world-to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down. To have everybody look at you and say, 'What's the matter with him?' I know. I know what it feels like. Walking down an empty street, listening to the sound of your own footsteps. Shutters closed, blinds drawn, doors locked against you. And you aren't sure whether you're walking toward something, or if you're just walking away.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it.
Sometimes I think there's a man who sits behind a counter and says, "All right, you can have a telephone but you lose privacy and the charm of distance.
Madam, you may vote but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat.
Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline.

Henry Drummond, a character in Inherit the Wind”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“I don't swear just for the hell of it. Language is a poor enough means of communication. I think we should all the words we've got. Besides, there are damn few words that anybody understands.

Henry Drummond, a character in Inherit the Wind”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“All motion is relative. Perhaps it is you who have moved away-by standing still”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool. College examinations notwithstanding, it takes a very smart fella to say "I don't know the answer!”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“When you lose the power to laugh, you lose your power to think straight.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Don't have any opinions. They're bad for business.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Why? Because I refuse to erase a man's lifetime? I tell you Brady had the same right as Cates: the right to be wrong!”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“He weighs the volume in his hand; this one has been the center of the whirlwind. Then DRUMMOND notices the Bible on the JUDGE's bench. He picks up the Bible in his other hand; he looks from one volume to the other, balancing them thoughtfully, as if his hands were scales. He half-smiles, half-shrugs. Then DRUMMOND slaps the two books together and jams them in his brief case, side by side. Slowly, he climbs to the street level and crosses the empty square.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“When you loose your power to laugh, you loose your power to think straight.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“The man who has everything figured out is probably a fool.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Buy a Bible!Your guide to eternal life!”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“لم أكن أفكر جيدا .. كنت أخاف مما يمكن أن أفكر به. ولذلك كان عدم التفكير أكثر أمانا. ولكن الآن بدأت أعرف أن الفكر مثل جنين داخل الجسد .. لابد أن يولد .. وإذا مات داخلك، فإن جزءا منك يموت أيضا”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Hot dog? Bible? Now that poses a problem! Which is hungrier-my stomach or my soul?”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Cynical? Thats my fascination. I do hateful things, for which people love me, And lovable things for which they hate me. I am a friend of enemies, the enemy of friends; I am admired for my detestability. I am both Poles and the Equator, with no Temperate Zones between.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Is it possible to be overzealous, to destroy that which you hope to save-so that nothing is left but emptiness.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“You don't suppose this kind of thing is ever finished, do you? Tomorrow it'll be something else-and another fella will have to stand up. And you've helped give him the guts to do it!”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“I am A man, not a sponge! If god wished a sponge to think, A SPONGE WOULD THINK!”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“إن الجهل نشيط دائما ويحتاج إلي وقود، وليس ثمة وقود أفضل من التعصب للرأي”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“الله خلق الإنسان على صورته. ولأن الإنسان كائن مهذب، فإنه فعل المعروف نفسه مع الله”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“If the enemy sends it's Goliath into battle, it magnifies our cause.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“It frightens me to imagine the state of learning in this world if everyone had your driving curiosity.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“If my own brother challenged the faith of millions, I would oppose him.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“الشخص الذي يعتقد أنه يعرف جميع الإجابات هو شخص أحمق. الذكي هو من يستطيع أن يقول أحيانا لا أعرف الإجابة”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

“Show me a shouter, and I'll show you an also-ran. A might-have-been, an almost-was.”
― quote from Inherit the Wind

Popular quotes

“Monsters have the worst taste in women.”
― Tera Lynn Childs, quote from Sweet Venom

“Something in her was changing as she read the books. Life after life flashed before her eyes, yet she stayed safe from misery. And the urge to act things out onstage could be satisfied cheaply, and at home, and without the annoyance of other members of an acting company. Her ambition to leave faded and a kind of contentment set in. She hadn't exactly feared the word contentment, but had always associated it with a vague sense of failure. To be discontented had always seemed much richer a thing. To be restless, striving. That view was romantic. In truth, she was finding out, life was better lived in a tranquil pattern. As long as she could read, she never tired of the design of her days.”
― Louise Erdrich, quote from The Master Butchers Singing Club

“I went outside, tripping over slabs of sunshine the size of towns. The sun was like a crowd of people, it was a party, it was music. The sun was blaring through the walls of houses and beating down the steps. The sun was drumming time into the stone. The sun was rhythming the day.”
― Jeanette Winterson, quote from Lighthousekeeping

“Human beings are disgustingly predictable, and this is as true of psychopaths as it is of grandmothers.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from Dance of Death

“And I know, also, nothing. Because I cannot shed my skin and put on yours, cannot strip my mind of its knowledge and its prejudices, cannot look cleanly at the world with the eyes of a child, am as imprisoned by my time as you were by yours.”
― Penelope Lively, quote from Moon Tiger

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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