Quotes from Kim

“There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“This is a brief life, but in its brevity it offers us some splendid moments, some meaningful adventures.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“I have seen something of this world," she said over the trays, "and there are but two sorts of women in it-- those who take the strength out of a man, and those who put it back. Once I was that one, and now I am this.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“It is not a good fancy,' said the llama. 'What profit to kill men?'
Very little - as I know; but if evil men were not now and then slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Something I owe to the soil that grew—
More to the life that fed—
But most to Allah who gave me two
Separate sides to my head.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“For Kim did nothing with an immense success.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“No need to listen for the fall. This is the world's end.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“I am Kim. I am Kim. And what is Kim?" His soul repeated it again and again.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“[A Buddhist monk on a pilgrimage speaks to a museum curator.]
And I come here alone. For five--seven--eighteen--forty years it was in my mind that the old Law was not well followed; being overlaid, as thou knowest, with devildom, charms, and idolatry....'
So it comes with all faiths.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“The meaning of my star is war.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“He sat in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammeh, on her old platform, opposite the old Ajaib gher, the Wonder House, as the natives called the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon', hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the conqueror's loot.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“He drew from under the table a sheet of strangely scented yellow-Chinese paper, the brushes, and slab of India ink. In cleanest, severest outline he had traced the Great Wheel with its six spokes, whose centre is the conjoined Hog, Snake, and Dove (Ignorance, Anger, and Lust), and whose compartments are all the heavens and hells, and all the chances of human life.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“An increasing cackle of complaints, orders, and jests, and what to a European would have been bad language, came from behind the curtains. Here was evidently a woman used to command.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“I follow the Law—the Most Excellent Law.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“His nickname through all the wards was ' Little Friend of all the World'; and very often, being lithe and inconspicuous, he executed commissions by night on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion. It was intrigue, of course.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is eternally pestered by women? There was that girl at the Akrola by the Ford; and there was the scullion's wife behind the dovecote -- not counting the others -- and now comes this one! When I was a child it was well enough, but now I am a man and they will not regard me as a man. Walnuts indeed! Ho! Ho! It is almonds in the Plains!”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“and with an almost audible click he felt the wheels of his being lock up anew on the world without. Things that rode meaningless on the eyeball an instant before slid into proper proportion. Roads were meant to be walked upon, houses to be lived in, cattle to be driven, fields to be tilled, and men and women to be talked to. They were all real and true—solidly”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“I consider in my own mind whether thou art a spirit, sometimes, or sometimes an evil imp," said the lama, smiling slowly.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“A churel is the peculiarly malignant ghost of a woman who has died in child-bed. She haunts lonely roads, her feet are turned backwards on the ankles, and she leads men to torment.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Nosotros no nos hemos separado por completo, pero aún no ha llegado el momento de que volvamos juntos a la carretera. Ahora está adquiriendo conocimientos en otro lugar. No tenemos más remedio que esperar.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Something I owe to the soil that grew--More to the life that fed--But most to Allah who gave me two Separate sides of my head. I would go without shirt or shoes, Friends, tobacco, or bread Sooner than for an instant lose Either side of my head.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“India was awake, and Kim was in the middle of it, more awake and more excited than anyone, chewing on a twig that he would presently use as a toothbrush; for he borrowed right- and left-handedly from all the customs of the country he knew and loved.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Kim dived into the happy Asiatic disorder which, if you only allow time, will bring you everything that a simple man needs.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Well, I believe in miracles, so it comes to”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“These be the sort" — she took a fine judicial tone, and stuffed her mouth with paan — "These be the sort to oversee justice. They know the land and the customs of the land. The others, all new from Europe, suckled by white women and learning our tongues from books, are worse than the pestilence. They do harm to kings.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Hearts are like horses. They come and they go against bit or spur.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“God He knows we need men more and more in the Game.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

“Those who beg in silence starve in silence,”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from Kim

About the author

Popular quotes

“They didn't trip and kill each other.”
― Laurann Dohner, quote from Fury

“… Кучето ми бе успяло да се върне, бяха му простреляли дробовете, но донесе покупките, успях и да го погаля, успях да му дам и бучка захар за похвала и награда, но то не я взе, сложи глава в скута ми и така бавно гаснеше, зад мен скланяше над нас глава кончето, поемаше с ноздри миризмата на кучето, дойде и козата, и котката, която спеше заедно с кучето, но мен така и не остави да я погаля, въпреки че, така отдалече, тя май ме обичаше най-много, когато й говорех, лягаше по гръб, гънеше се и се извиваше, и отправяше към мен лапички и погледи, все едно че я милвах под гушката или по кожухчето й, но протегнех ли към нея ръка, всеки път силата на плахостта я изстрелваше далеч от досега на пръстите ми… дойде котката и се сгуши, както бе свикнала, в козината на овчарката, аз протегнах към нея длан, но тя се беше загледала в гаснещите очи на кучето, и аз я погалих, тя ме изгледа, давайки ми да разбера, че за нея това е отвратително и че го е преодоляла само заради смъртта на приятеля си, затова предпочете да затвори очи и да пъхне глава в козината на кучето, за да не гледа това, от което изпитваше ужас и за което инак копнееше.”
― Bohumil Hrabal, quote from I Served the King of England

“It is my belief that, given the necessary physical likeness, it was far easier to pretend to be king of Ruritania than it would have been to personate my next-door neighbor.”
― Anthony Hope, quote from The Prisoner of Zenda

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― Mary Downing Hahn, quote from Deep and Dark and Dangerous (A Ghost Story)

“I like black for clothes, small items, and jewelry. It's a color that can't be violated by any other colors. A color that simply keeps being itself. A color that sinks more somberly than any other color, yet asserts itself more than all other colors. It's a passionate gallant color. Anything is wonderful if it transcends things rather than being halfway...”
― Yana Toboso, quote from Black Butler, Vol. 1

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.