“Inside, Lexi saw only people on gurneys. Coughing, screaming, prostrate patients, but no doctors. She yelled for help, flapping open each curtain as she ducked through the maze of rooms. But there was no one.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Something terrible was going on in this mall. Shay just had to keep Preeti and Nani safe. Hide them until this—whatever it was—was over. If she could do that, everything would be fine.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“With the rising emotional barometer, Marco began to consider whether there was any possible scenario for survival within the mall. Each new malevolent customer made escape seem the best option. But was it even possible?”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“I’m Shaila Dixit,” she said, holding out her free hand. Mike shook it. “A little formal,” he said. He looked at Ryan, smiled, and let go of her hand. “But any friend of Ryan’s is a pal of mine.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Maddie began regaling Lexi with another tale from the History of Irvington Country Day. Apparently, it was not all tea parties and polo games. The last story ended with, “And then we had to call the fire department because the bonfire lit up the grass clippings in the lawn.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Take, for instance, Maddie Flynn. Not the brightest chip on the circuit board, but totally entertaining.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“So a guy likes your tits and says so. Why let it get to you?” Maddie asked, giving Lexi the raised-eyebrow once-over. “I’m not like you,” Lexi said. Maddie’s eyebrows sunk into a scowl. Lexi scrambled for a better explanation. “I mean, I’m not good with boys.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Ryan felt tingly all over, like maybe he’d been tossed from his own body. But he was all right. By some small miracle, they were all okay.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“If she could have deleted herself from the universe, she would have.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“So how did you two meet?” the sister asked in a sing-songy, playground-taunt voice. Marco responded viscerally to the tone.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Years of abuse had trained Marco in the tactics of survival, which boiled down to this: If every time someone spoke to you, you fired back some sarcastic, fuck-you response, people tended to leave you alone. This method had served him well; now in his junior year, Marco was practically invisible to his peers. But not completely, as he was now aware.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“How can you seem so normal?” she said. “Knowing what we know.” Her voice was muffled by her folded arms. “What, that we’re caught in a death trap?” Shay glanced up at Marco like he’d bitten her. He decided to holster his usual mode of response. He wanted to talk to this girl.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Having the job makes it easier,” he said, sitting opposite her. “Keeps my mind off things.” He would not say anything about his spy operation. “My job isn’t helping me at all.” She waved her hand up, then let it flop back onto her arm. “Job?” Marco asked. “Taking care of my grandmother and sister,” Shay said. “My grandmother’s diabetic. She needs insulin shots. And my sister is just, well.” Shay looked at him, eyebrows raised. “You have a little sister?” “I’m the little brother, so you’ll get no sympathy from me.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“He forged ahead. “Where’d you move from?” “Jersey,” she said, without adding more. “Why hasn’t the bomb blown up already?” “Maybe it did and we’re all dead,” he said. “Heaven’s a bit of a disappointment.” “Yeah, and the food sucks.” She smiled. She got his gallows humor. He felt suddenly grateful for having been trapped in the squad car for all of yesterday.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Anyway, I thought you and Darren were cybernetically connected.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“The man who’d found Lexi—Dr. Chen, she was told—joined the Senator.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“What would telling people accomplish?” her mother asked. “Run this through with me: We tell people that if they get sick, they’re most likely going to die. Next, people will try to hide their symptoms, lie to themselves about being sick. This means they won’t seek treatment, they’ll stay out in the populace and infect more people.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Nani could always be counted on to act as a coconspirator.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“At least she had a handle on her family. Arthur was convalescing on the couch in the Apple Store stockroom and Lexi was sitting next to him helping to type in the population database she’d asked them to create. It was nice having all of the Rosses on the same page.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“She just had to keep them hopeful. If they had hope, they could be controlled.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Dotty laughed because that was what you did when someone thought they were funny. There should be Oscars for politicians. She took the key and stalked out to the hall.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Lexi shuffled into a sit. Her brain began scratching together an appropriate response. Talking was so different from texting—one had to string words together so quickly in real life.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“I had a good teacher.” Shay felt an incredible urge to touch him, but feared she might burst into flame.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Her ears were blue. Somehow, all Shay could focus on were the ears. They looked like something off a Halloween mask.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“You’re just going to let this happen?” Marco asked, incredulous.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Suddenly the divide between them and everyone outside seemed insurmountable.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“A man—the boy’s father, it seemed—stepped forward and put one hand on his son’s shoulder, the other around his wife. When the hazmat man stood, the father picked his kid up and tried to leave.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“The news channels were all blocked—not that they’d shown more than vapid speculation over the last few days.”
― Dayna Lorentz, quote from No Safety in Numbers
“Let’s start with the most prominent ecological crisis of our time: global warming. When you look seriously at the numbers, you find that switching from a meat-based to a plant-based diet would do more to curb and reverse global warming than any other initiative.”
― T. Colin Campbell, quote from Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition
“I will never let you know how much you hurt me
No, I will never tell you
The lasts few months have sent me into myself
It's not easy to forget you
Time is healing me
I keep my feelings to myself, it helps
I don't understand you or your kind
I end up getting myself messed up
I can't take any more beatings like this”
― Henry Rollins, quote from The Portable Henry Rollins
“It is not important whether what he is chanting is true or not, whether you believe in it or not. Your decision to chant along with him is no measure of your commitment to justice or freedom or whatever lofty principle is at hand. Sometimes, radical slogans are a trap. They are shouted by infiltrators so that a group of students protesting a press crackdown can be depicted as seeking to overthrow the regime. Sometimes they are not traps at all but the frustrated stand of a brave person. But how are you to know? Your objective is to avoid being a pawn, to avoid getting dragged into trouble because you are curious, or believe you are seeing history being made." They”
― Shirin Ebadi, quote from Iran Awakening
“Women are brought up to conform: all the rules of femininity—dress, behavior, attitude—essentially break the spirit. Women are trained to need men, not sexually but metaphysically. Women are brought up to be the void that needs filling, the absence that needs presence. Women are brought up to fear men and to know that they must please men and to understand that they cannot survive without the help of men richer and stronger than they can be themselves, on their own. Women are brought up to submit to intercourse—and here the strategy is shrewd—by being kept ignorant of it. The rules are taught, but the act is hidden. Girls are taught “love, ” not “fuck. ” Little girls look between their legs to see if “the hole” is there, get scared thinking about what “the hole” is for; no one tells them either. Women use their bodies to attract men; and most women, like the little girls they were, are astonished by the brutality of the fuck. The importance of this ignorance about intercourse cannot be overstated: it is as if no girl would grow up, or accept the hundred million lessons on how to be a girl, or want boys to like her, if she knew what she was for.”
― Andrea Dworkin, quote from Right Wing Women
“Si tu ne m'aimes pas, je t'aime
si je t'aime, prends garde à toi!”
― Prosper Mérimée, quote from Carmen
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.