Quotes from Mother Courage and Her Children

“I won't let you spoil my war for me. Destroys the weak, does it? Well, what does peace do for'em, huh? War feeds its people better.”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

“MUTTER COURAGE Mir scheint, ich hab zu lang gehandelt.”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

“Sometimes I see myself driving through hell with this wagon and selling brimstone. And sometimes I’m driving through heaven handing our provisions to wandering souls! If only we could find a place where there’s no shooting, me and my children—what’s left of ‘em—we might rest a while.”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

“He says he'd like to kiss the ground you walk on-reminds me, did you wash them yesterday?- and after that you're his skivvy.”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

“Potkupljivost je u ljudi isto što u Boga milosrđe.”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

“He’ll never be conquered, that man, and you know why? We all back him up – the little fellows like you and me. Oh yes, to hear the big fellows talk, they ‘re fighting for their beliefs and so on, but if you look into it, you find they’re not that silly: they do want to make a profit on the deal. So you and I back them up! COOK”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

“VOJNI ŽUPNIK: Hoću reći, mira ima i u ratu, ima on svojih mirovnih mjesta. Rat naime zadovoljava sve potrebe, među njima i za mirom, tu je on zbrinut, inače se ne bi uspijevao održati. I u ratu se možeš pokakati kao i u najdubljem miru, a između jednog i drugog okršaja ima i piva, pa čak i dok se napreduje možeš malo zadrijemati, oslonjen o lakte, to se uvijek može, u grabi na ulici. Za juriša se doduše ne možeš kartati, ne možeš to ni dok u najdubljem miru oreš njivu, ali nakon pobjede ima tih mogućnosti. Može biti da ti kugla odnese nogu, isprva ispustiš grozan krik, kao da je to nešto, ali onda se primiriš ili dobiješ rakije, pa na kraju opet cupkaš, a rat nije nimalo lošiji no prije. A što te priječi da se usred tog klanja i množiš, iza nekog štaglja ili bilo gdje drugdje, od toga te nije moguće zadugo uzdržati, i rat onda dobije tvoje izdanke i može krenuti dalje. Ne, rat uvijek nađe izlaza, kako da ne. Zašto bi morao prestati?”
― Bertolt Brecht, quote from Mother Courage and Her Children

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“I couldn't imagine myself doing it anymore. It was part of my life that had ended for me, and here was my chance to set out on a fresh course”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“How we hate to admit that we would like nothing better than to be the slave! Slave and master at the same time! For even in love the slave is always the master in disguise. The man who must conquer the woman, subjugate her, bend her to his will, form her according to his desires—is he not the slave of his slave? How easy it is, in this relationship, for the woman to upset the balance of power! The mere threat of self-dependence, on the woman’s part, and the gallant despot is seized with vertigo. But if they are able to throw themselves at one another recklessly, concealing nothing, surrendering all, if they admit to one another their interdependence, do they not enjoy a great and unsuspected freedom? The man who admits to himself that he is a coward has made a step towards conquering his fear; but the man who frankly admits it to every one, who asks that you recognize it in him and make allowance for it in dealing with him, is on the way to becoming a hero. Such a man is often surprised, when the crucial test comes, to find that he knows no fear. Having lost the fear of regarding himself as a coward he is one no longer: only the demonstration is needed to prove the metamorphosis. It is the same in love. The man who admits not only to himself but to his fellowmen, and even to the woman he adores, that he can be twisted around a woman’s finger, that he is helpless where the other sex is concerned, usually discovers that he is the more powerful of the two. Nothing breaks a woman down more quickly than complete surrender. A woman is prepared to resist, to be laid siege to: she has been trained to behave that way. When she meets no resistance she falls headlong into the trap.

To be able to give oneself wholly and completely is the greatest luxury that life affords. Real love only begins at this point of dissolution. The personal life is altogether based on dependence, mutual dependence. Society is the aggregate of persons all interdependent. There is another richer life beyond the pale of society, beyond the personal, but there is no knowing it, no attainment possible, without firs traveling the heights and depths of the personal jungle. To become the great lover, the magnetiser and catalyzer, the blinding focus and inspiration of the world, one has to first experience the profound wisdom of being an utter fool. The man whose greatness of heart leads him to folly and ruin is to a woman irresistible. To the woman who loves, that is to say. As to those who ask merely to be loved, who seek only their own reflection in the mirror, no love however great, will ever satisfy them. In a world so hungry for love it is no wonder that men and women are blinded by the glamour and glitter of their own reflected egos. No wonder that the revolver shot is the last summons. No wonder that the grinding wheels of the subway express, though they cut the body to pieces, fail to precipitate the elixir of love. In the egocentric prism the helpless victim is walled in by the very light which he refracts. The ego dies in its own glass cage…”
― Henry Miller, quote from Sexus

“In defense of King, country, and family, he would unhesitatingly have sacrificed his virtue to Nessie, had that been required. If it was a question of Olivia marrying a man with syphilis and half the British army being exterminated in battle, versus himself experiencing a "personal interview" with Richard Caswell, though, he rather thought Olivia and the King had best look to their own devices.”
― Diana Gabaldon, quote from Lord John and the Private Matter

“You're going to find Tigerstar. Against that fiend, every cat is helpless.”
― Erin Hunter, quote from Fading Echoes

“To her, though, nothing could have been more serious, and she felt about reading what some writers felt about writing: that it was impossible not to do it and that at this late stage of her life she had been chosen to read as others were chosen to write.”
― Alan Bennett, quote from The Uncommon Reader

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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.