“The purpose of debates is to explore issues, not end them.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“You do not convince me. You rationalize your actions and because the result is favorable you become right.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Love is not about conquest. The truth is a man can only find true love when he surrenders to it. When he opens his heart to the partner of his soul and says: "Here it is! The very essence of me! It is yours to nurture or destroy.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Odysseus draped the towel over his shoulders and stretched his back. "You remember practicing with wooden swords? All the moves, the blocks, the counters, getting your footwork right, learning how to be in balance always?"
"Of course you were a hard master."
"And you recall the first time you went into a real fight, with blood being shed and the fear of death in the air?"
"I do"
"The moves are the same, but the difference is wider than the Great Green. Love is like that, Helikaon. You can spend time with a whore and laugh and know great pleasure. But when love strikes--- ah, the difference is awesome. You will find more joy in the touch of a hand or the sight of a smile than you could ever experience in a hundred nights of passion with anyone else. The sky will be more blue, the sun more bright. Ah, I am missing my Penelope tonight”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“We make choices everyday, some of them good, some of them bad. And if we are strong enough - we live with the consequences. To be truthful I am not entirely sure what people mean when they talk of happiness. There are moments of joy and laughter, the comfort of friendship, but enduring happiness? If it exists I have not discovered it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Danger lies in the extreme. A man who is always cruel is evil, a man who is always compassionate will be taken advantage of. It is more a question of balance, or harmony, if you will.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“A great man once told me there can be no courage without fear”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“We cannot hide behind high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Listen...You could spend a lifetime trying to understand the works of evil men. Their joys are not ours. They love to inflict pain, create suffering, cause harm and death. It empowers them, for beneath the skin they are empty and worthless.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Never liked Kolanos. Was at a feast with him one time. Never heard him fart at all. Can't trust a man who doesn't fart at a feast.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Our lives are spent sailing in the mist, hoping for a burst of sunlight that can make sense of who we are.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Love requires a different kind of courage, Andromache.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“In every one of us is the total of all we have ever been, the sullen child, the arrogant youth, the suckling babe. Every fear endured in childhood is lodged somewhere in here.' He tapped his temple. 'And every act of heroism or cowardice, generosity or meanness of spirit.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“War is the enemy of civilization. We cannot grow through war, Xander. It drags us down, filling our hearts with hatred and thoughts of revenge.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“One day the enemy will cross the Great Green. They will bring war and tragedy to these eastern lands. Such is the nature of vile men. Yet we cannot live in dread of them. We cannot hide behind these high walls, our hearts trembling. For that is not life. We must accept the needs and the duties of each day, and face them one at a time.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Be lucky, Xander, and be brave. You will find that bravery and luck are often bedfellows.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“You can buy gold that is bright as the sun and diamonds as pale as the moon. But you cannot buy the sun. You cannot own the moon.” II”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“My happiness is not in the gift of others. I will be happy or I will not be happy. No man will supply it or deprive me of it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“I know the difference between heroes and cowards. You are a hero. You believe me?’ ‘I don’t feel like a hero,’ Xander admitted. Odysseus tapped the cheekbone under his right eye. ‘This eye is magical, Xander. It is never wrong. Now, I ask again, do you believe me?’ ‘Yes. Yes, of course.’ ‘Then tell me what you are.’ ‘I am a hero.’ ‘Good. When doubt comes, as it always does, remember those words. Say them to yourself. And I will see you again in the spring, if the gods will it.”
― David Gemmell, quote from Lord of the Silver Bow
“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.”
― Matthew Quick, quote from Love May Fail
“And it’s often in those battles that we are most alive: it’s on the frontlines of our lives that we earn wisdom, create joy, forge friendships, discover happiness, find love, and do purposeful work. If you want to win any meaningful kind of victory, you’ll have to fight for it.”
― quote from Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life
“Un único Espíritu. Mucho antes de que Sumeria existiera, antes de que en Egipto se construyera Sakkara, antes de que floreciera el valle del Indo, el espíritu vivía en cuerpos humanos, danzando en una cultura elevada. La Esfinge sabe la verdad. Somos mucho más de lo que sabemos. Hemos olvidado. La Flor de la Vida fue y es conocida por toda la vida. Toda la vida, no sólo aquí sino en todas partes, sabía que era el patrón de la creación la vía de entrada y salida. El Espíritu nos creó con esta imagen. Tú sabes que es verdad; está escrito en tu cuerpo, en todos tus cuerpos.”
― Drunvalo Melchizedek, quote from The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life: Volume 1
“In the book Daring Greatly, shame researcher Brené Brown introduces the idea of "minding the gap." She's talking about the values gap: the space between who we are now and who we want to be. Minding the gap is part of walking toward the horizon we talked about in the previous chapter. There will always be times when we are imperfect, when we fall short of the best possible versions of ourselves. Minding the gap is being aware of where we are now and striving to move in the direction we want to go. That's part of living with integrity.”
― Franklin Veaux, quote from More Than Two: A Practical Guide to Ethical Polyamory
“Every living thing is precious somehow.”
― T.A. Barron, quote from The Seven Songs of Merlin
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.