Quotes from Lockdown

“Don't make the mistake of bringing your heart down here with you, there is no place for it in Furnace.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“When you're locked up in here for life, you learn to welcome the little freedoms.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“There always has to be someone to take the punches. That's how it works. It isn't fair, it isn't right, but that kid licking slop off the floor over there means that we get to eat in peace.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“I'd been so set on an escape that was now impossible, and the only form of freedom left to me was death. It was a terrible kind of freedom—one from misery and pain, yes, but also one from lightness and laughter and life. It was an absence of everything.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“Trust me-that toilet and me were best friends for the first few days I was here.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“This place is full of unwritten rules.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“Only another twenty thousand or so days of this to go.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“Let me know if you're going to do something stupid, kid, 'cause I'll ditch you like that.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“Don't need a degree in rocket science to do this job.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“That mush plays havoc downstairs, you know?”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“Just take it from me," Donovan said. "Stay well clear of the warden. Some here think he's the devil. I don't, I don't believe in that religious talk, but I know evil when I see it. He's something rotten they dragged from the bowels of the earth, something they patched together from darkness and filth. He'll be the death of us all, every single one of us here in Furnace. Only question is when."
"I know one thing," I added. "The warden certainly brings out peoples dramatic sides."
Zee and Donovan both laughed through their noses.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“It felt like I´d been lying on that bed for a thousand years, tormented by every demon possible.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“My whole body was aching, my stomach felt like it was unpeeling itself, like I was coming apart. I offered silent prayers that I hadn´t eaten dinner.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“Next I was plunged into a void so profound that I thought I´d gone blind.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“All for one and let’s get the hell out of here.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“What if that was the fate of all of us, turned into the very basest of creatures, the very essence of evil?”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

“But they’re bluffing. I defy even the bravest adult to spend the night in a place like Furnace in the pitch black without thinking that every noise is something right behind you with dagger teeth and eyes of silver and blood on its breath; that every whisper of air that runs over your skin is the rush of a descending blade; that every flicker of movement is a tendril of darkness wrapping itself around your throat and coiling in the pit of your belly, where it feasts on your soul.”
― Alexander Gordon Smith, quote from Lockdown

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Popular quotes

“Regarding the need to pray, the anarch is again no different from anyone else. But he does not like to attach himself. He does not squander his best energies. He accepts no substitute for his gold. He knows his freedom, and also what it is worth its weight in. The equation balances when he is offered something credible. The result is ONE.

There can be no doubt that gods have appeared, not only in ancient times but even late in history; they feasted with us and fought at our sides. But what good is the splendor of bygone banquets to a starving man? What good is the clinking of gold that a poor man hears through the wall of time? The gods must be called.

The anarch lets all this be; he can bide his time. He has his ethos, but not morals. He recognizes lawfulness, but not the law; he despises rules. Whenever ethos goes into shalts and shalt-nots, it is already corrupted. Still, it can harmonize with them, depending on location and circumstances, briefly or at length, just as I harmonize here with the tyrant for as long as I like.

One error of the anarchists is their belief that human nature is intrinsically good. They thereby castrate society, just as the theologians ("God is goodness") castrate the Good Lord.”
― Ernst Jünger, quote from Eumeswil

“The words, when they came to my heart, were so gentle, and familiar -- and so very sad: What is this you have done?”
― Tosca Lee, quote from Havah: The Story of Eve

“There was something about Miss Lyndon that made him glad she was on his side. Not that he thought she would make a vicious enemy, just that she seemed loyal, level-headed, and fair. And she had a wicked sense of humor. Just the sort of person a man would want standing beside him when he needed support.”
― Julia Quinn, quote from Brighter Than the Sun

“How had she ended up like this, imprisoned in the role of harridan? Once upon a time, her brash manner had been a mere posture - a convenient and amusing way for an insecure teenage bride, newly arrived in America, to disguise her crippling shyness. People had actually enjoyed her vituperation back then, encouraged it and celebrated it. She had carved out a minor distinction for herself as a 'character': the cute little English girl with the chutzpah and the longshoreman's mouth. 'Get Audrey in here,' they used to cry whenever someone was being an ass. 'Audrey'll take him down a peg or two.'

But somewhere along the way, when she hadn't been paying attention, her temper had ceased to be a beguiling party at that could be switched on and off at will. It had begun to express authentic resentments: boredom with motherhood, fury at her husband's philandering, despair at the pettiness of her domestic fate. She hadn't noticed the change at first. Like an old lady who persists in wearing the Jungle Red lipstick of her glory days, she had gone on for a long time, fondly believing that the stratagems of her youth were just as appealing as they had ever been. By the time she woke up and discovered that people had taken to making faces at her behind her back - that she was no longer a sexy young woman with a charmingly short fuse but a middle-aged termagant - it was too late. Her anger had become a part of her. It was a knotted thicket in her gut, too dense to be cut down and too deeply entrenched in the loamy soil of her disappointments to be uprooted.”
― Zoë Heller, quote from The Believers

“A spontaneous proposition deserves a spontaneous response."
"You gave me a spontaneous response when you said no.”
― Jeri Smith-Ready, quote from Requiem for the Devil

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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.