“I don’t think of people as queer or straight,” the Doc said. “Not when you’re as old as I. And I don’t think God does either.”
“I didn’t know you believed in God, Doc,” Vance said.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“For imagine having somebody beside you day and night loving you and forgiving you and petting you forever and ever, that must be a better description of hell than being put into a boiling lake or cauldron of ice that burnt your black.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“Nobody can cause another man evil unless the second party involved allows him to.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“Behind this story so far is another story, as behind the girders of an ancient bridge is the skeleton of a child which superstition says keeps the bridge standing.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“Don’t shoot me, Sidney, I love you.”
He had shot him right through the words that still haunted him today, the most perfect words ever said to him.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“My idea of heaven is to be hunting with you in some beautiful park with mountains like here at home but where we won’t need guns or prey but we will just walk together arm in arm in this good world and be by ourselves always together forever and a day.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“I have wrote my name in hell,” Brian McFee had said as he was dying on the sawdust of the floor in the Bent Ridge Tavern.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“Not all princes he had read about in books of legends are beautiful and noble and carry their heads high.”
― James Purdy, quote from Narrow Rooms
“he cut through the 21st Century Gallery, past the big plastic statues of Pluto and Mickey, animal headed gods of lost America”
― Philip Reeve, quote from Mortal Engines
“His life was now the life of a collector, and that gave it meaning. Evening after evening he would count and arrange his cuttings under the indulgent eyes of Mrs. Povondra who knew that every man is partly mad and partly a little child; it was better for him to play with his cuttings than to go out drinking and playing cards. She even made some space in the scullery for all the boxes he had made himself for his collection; could anything more be asked of a wife?”
― Karel Čapek, quote from War with the Newts
“Did you really believe I was Toby? Puh-lease. I would have killed myself too. I mean, honestly - ew. He totally had it coming. Karma's a bitch, and so am I - just ask Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer....”
― Sara Shepard, quote from Flawless
“Have your being outside this body of birth and death and all your problems will be solved. They exist because you believe yourself born to die. Undeceive yourself and be free. You are not a person.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
“When did creating a flawless facade become a more vital goal than learning to love the person who lives inside your skin?”
― Ellen Hopkins, quote from Perfect
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.