Edith Hamilton · 497 pages
Rating: (37.4K votes)
“Love cannot live where there is no trust.”
“Love, however, cannot be forbidden. The more that flame is covered up, the hotter it burns. Also love can always find a way. It was impossible that these two whose hearts were on fire should be kept apart. (Pyramus and Thisbe)”
“The mind knows only what lies near the heart.”
“The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.”
“...a chasm opened in the earth and out of it coal-black horses sprang, drawing a chariot and driven by one who had a look of dark splendor, majestic and beautiful and terrible. He caught her to him and held her close. The next moment she was being borne away from the radiance of earth in springtime to the world of the dead by the king who rules it.”
“Love and the Soul (for that is what Psyche means) had sought and, after sore trials, found each other; and that union could never be broken. (Cupid and Psyche)”
“None so good that he has no faults, None so wicked that he is worth naught.”
“He drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek and make Hell grant what Love did seek. ”
“Moderately wise each one should be,
Not overwise, for a wise man's heart
Is seldom glad (Norse Wisdom)”
“Tell one your thoughts, but beware of two. All know what is known to three”
“He was there beside her; yet she was far away from him, alone with her outraged love and her ruined life.”
“For all men serve him of their own free will. And he whom Love touches not walks in darkness.”
“One good thing, however, was there - Hope. It was the only good thing the casket had held among the many evils, and it remains to this day mankind's sole comfort in misfortune.”
“They yoked themselves to a car and drew her all the long way through dust and heat. Everyone admired their filial piety when they arrived and the proud and happy mother standing before the statue prayed that Hera would reward them by giving them the best gift in her power. As she finished her prayer the two lads sank to the ground. They were smiling and they looked as if they were peacefully asleep but they were dead. (Biton and Cleobis)”
“Kiss me yet once again, the last, long kiss, Until I draw your soul within my lips And drink down all your love.”
“We hold there is no worse enemy to a state than he who keeps the law in his own hands.”
“He was softly breathing his life away, the dark blood flowing down his skin of snow and his eyes growing heavy and dim. She kissed him, but Adonis knew not that she kissed him as he died.”
“Far better die," she said. She took in her hand a casket which held herbs for killing, but as she sat there with it, she thought of life and the delightful things that are in the world; and the sun seemed sweeter than ever before.”
“I take courage,” Aeneas said. “Here too there are tears for things, and hearts are touched by the fate of all that is mortal.”
“Not because he had complete courage based on overwhelming strength, which is merely a matter of course, but because, by his sorrow for wrongdoing ad his willingness to do anything to expiate it, he showed greatness of soul.”
“They would allow no woman to be forced to marry against her will they told the newcomers, nor would they surrender any suppliant, no matter how feeble, and no matter how powerful the pursuer.”
“She looked at him; she did not speak. He was there beside her, yet she was far away from him, alone with her outraged love and her ruined life. His feelings had nothing in them to make him silent.”
“She would have given her soul to him if he had asked her. And now both were fixing their eyes on the ground, abashed, and again were throwing glances at each other, smiling with love's desire.”
“Saint Paul said the invisible must be understood by the visible. That was not a Hebrew idea, it was Greek.”
“Appropriately, his bird was the vulture. The dog was wronged by being chosen as his animal.”
“When she came into Venus’ presence the goddess laughed aloud and asked her scornfully if she was seeking a husband since the one she had had would have nothing to do with her because he had almost died of the burning wound she had given him.”
“The wise are doubtful,' Socrates returned, 'and I should not be singular if I too doubted.”
“There is a crucially important difference about playing the game of investing compared to virtually any other activity. Most of us have no chance of being as good as the average in any pursuit where others practice and hone skills for many, many hours. But we can be as good as the average investor in the stock market with no practice at all.
Jeremy Siegel, Professor of Finance, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Stocks for the Long Run”
“He’d described himself as looking like a child molester waiting for a chance to strike. He wasn’t comfortable with his appearance.”
“منذ اولمبياد العام 1936 التي نظمها هتلر كان الرياضيون الفائزون ينتعلون احذية تظهر عليها خطوط ماركة اديداس الثلاثة. و في بطولة العلم بكرة القدم عام 1990 كانت خطوط اديداس تظهر على الاحذيو و على كل شيء اخر. و قد لاحظ صحفيان انجليزيان هما سيمسون و جينينغس ان الشيء الوحيد الذي لم يكن للشركة في المباراة النهائية بين المانيا و الارجنتين هو صافرة الحكم. و قد كانت الكرة و كل ما يغطي اجساد اللاعبين و الحكم و حكام التماس من ماركة اديداس”
“...I can't sleep, because I'm afraid I'll start dreaming...”
“To lead a life so wholly happy, so wholly unexamined that she could be dying, could be betrayed, could be besieged on all sides and never even know it.”
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.