Quotes from Inside Out & Back Again

“Oh, my daughter,
at times you have to fight,
but preferably
not with your fists.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“This year I hope
I truly learn
to fly-kick
not to kick anyone
so much as
to fly.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Mother says,
People share
when they know they have escaped hunger.

Shouldn't people share
because there is hunger?”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Whoever invented English
should have learned
to spell.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“People living on others' goodwill cannot afford political opinions.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Mother tells me,
They tease you
because they adore you.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Paperwork, paperwork with a woman who pats my head while shaking her own. I step back, hating pity, having learned from Mother that the pity giver feels better, never the pity receiver.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“How can we scramble away like rats, without honor, without dignity, when everyone must help rebuild the country?”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Everyone knows the ship could sink, unable to hold the piles of bodies that keep crawling on like raging ants from a disrupted nest. But no one is heartless enough to say stop because what if they had been stopped before their turn?”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Mother warns
how we act today
foretells the whole year”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Why no s for two deer,
but an s for two monkeys?

Brother Quang says
no one knows.

So much for rules!

Whoever invented English should be bitten by a snake.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Black seeds spill like clusters of eyes, wet and crying.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“No, Mr. Johnston doesn't have a horse, nor has he ever ridden one. What kind of a cowboy is he?”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Mostly, I wish I were still smart.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“We glide and I feel as if I'm floating.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Our lives
will twist and twist,
intermingling the old and the new
until it doesn't matter
which is which.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“She was promised to Father at five. They married at sixteen, earlier than expected. Everyone’s future changed upon learning the name H Chí Minh.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“I step back,
hating pity,

having learned
from Mother that
the pity giver
feels better,
never the pity receiver.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“People share when they know they have escaped hunger. Shouldn’t people share because there is hunger?”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“I wish
our cowboy could be persuaded
to buy a horse,

that I could be invisible
until I can talk back”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“I need the lessons.
I’m hiding in class
by staring at my shoes.
I’m hiding during lunch
in the bathroom,
eating hard rolls
saved from dinner.
I’m hiding during outside time
in the same bathroom.
I’m hiding after school
until Brother Khôi
rides up to
our secret corner.
With Vu Lee
I squat in
weight on legs,
back straight
arms at my sides,
fingers relaxed,
eyes everywhere at once

I’m practicing to be seen.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“MiSSS SScott
points to the numbers
along the wall.
I count up to twenty.
The class claps
on its own.
I’m furious,
unable to explain
I already learned
fractions and how to purify water.
So this is what dumb feels like. I hate, hate,
hate it.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Oh, my daughter, at times you have to fight, but preferably not with your fists.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“I can't make my brothers
go live elsehwere,
but I can
hide their sandals.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

“Some verbs
switch all over
just because.

I am
She is
They are
He was
They were

Would be simpler
if English
and live
were logical.”
― Thanhha Lai, quote from Inside Out & Back Again

About the author

Popular quotes

“You put God in your marriage and you ain’t got to worry ‘bout too much else. You’re gonna have your ups and downs, but the ups are higher and the downs don’t go so low or last so long when you got Jesus right in the middle of it.”
― Michelle Stimpson, quote from Boaz Brown

“After that, Lily was recuperating and then
dealing with significant financial hardships. The
birth was described to me by Lily and also by
her obstetrician, who I spoke to myself yesterday.
The doctor, in his own words, remembers what
he describes as that ‘hideous day’ like it was yesterday.
The labour, intense and excruciating, lasted
for days. In the end, in extreme distress at
the length of the labour, the baby nearly died.
Lily did die. She was flatline for two minutes and
thirty-eight –”
Alistair didn’t get the opportunity to finish his
grand statement because Nate surged out of his
chair so fast, it flew on its wheels and shot across
the room, slamming into the wall.
“Mr. McAllister…” Alistair said warningly
but Nate was coming swiftly around the table,
coming at her.
At this sight, Lily, too, jumped out of her chair
in a panic, her numbness not that complete, and
backed away in self-defence as Nate came at her,
came at her with purposeful, long strides. She
backed up jerkily, one hand behind her, one hand
in front, retreating until she hit the wall. Before
she knew what he was about, his hard chest came
up against her hand, pushing it back and his body
pressed against hers.
Terrified and confused at this sudden change,
she looked to the right and to the left, anywhere
for escape, anywhere but at Nate.
And to her shock, his hands caught her face,
resting one on either side, gently trying to force
her to look into his impossibly dark eyes.
“I didn’t know,” he whispered and the absolute
ache dripping from his first words said to her
since she found out he was alive cut through her
thin shield of numbness like a razor.
She attempted to pull her face free but his
hands tightened.
“Lily, I didn’t know,” he repeated, and she
caught his eyes and they were glittering dark with
something that she couldn’t read, something
hideously painful and she had to get away from
it. Was desperate to get away from it. She needed
to flee.
She tried to look over his shoulder but he was
too tall, too close. Things were happening in the
room, there was urgent talk, maybe even a tussle.
But all she could see was Nate.”
― Kristen Ashley, quote from Three Wishes

“The empire long united must divide, long divided must unite; this is how it has always been.”
― Luo Guanzhong, quote from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1: (with footnotes and maps) (Romance of the Three Kingdoms (with footnotes and maps))

“Oh my god, no wonder she went so pale. She’s going to string you up for this, baby.” Sloane laughs.  Baby.  I’ve wanted to hit loved-up assholes for using that endearment before. But when Sloane says it… I don’t really know what to think. I catch Michael’s amused smile, itching at the corners of his mouth, and I don’t feel like busting his balls. I just raise my eyebrows at him, a look of shock and amusement of my own. The fucker grins, then, like it’s Christmas day and Mom and Dad aren’t fighting.”
― quote from Collateral

“Opportunities and choices. When a person makes a heart wish, that wish resonates through the currents and things will happen to give the person an opportunity to make the wish come true. Like a hand offered and accepted.”
― Anne Bishop, quote from Sebastian

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

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.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.