Quotes from On the Beach

Nevil Shute ·  296 pages

Rating: (29.3K votes)


“It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“No, it wasn't an accident, I didn't say that. It was carefully planned, down to the tiniest mechanical and emotional detail. But it was a mistake.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“I'm glad we haven't got newspapers now. It's been much nicer without them.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“Some games are fun even when you lose. Even when you know you're going to lose before you start. It's fun just playing them.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“Maybe we've been too silly to deserve a world like this.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach



“You know," he said, "now that I've got used to the idea, I think I'd rather have it this way. We've all got to die one day, some sooner and some later. The trouble always has been that you're never ready, because you don't know when it's coming. Well, now we do know, and there's nothing to be done about it. I kind of like that. I kind of like the thought that I'll be fit and well up till the end of August and then - home. I'd rather have it that way than go on as a sick manfrom when I'm seventy to when I'm ninety.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“If what they say is right we're none of us going to have time to do all that we planned to do. But we can keep on doing it as long as we can.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“Security was now a thing of the past though it took a conscious effort to remember it; with no enemy in all the world there was little but the force of habit in it.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“The news did not trouble her particularly; all news was bad, like wage demands, strikes, or war, and the wise person paid no attention to it. What was important was that it was a bright, sunny day; her first narcissi were in bloom, and the daffodils behind them were already showing flower buds.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“You could have done something with newspapers. We didn't do it. No nation did, because we were all too silly. We liked our newspapers with pictures of beach girls and headlines about cases of indecent assault, and no Government was wise enough to stop us having them that way. But something might have been done with newspapers, if we'd been wise enough.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach



“The news did not trouble her particularly; all news was bad, like wage demands, strikes, or war, and the wise person paid no attention to it.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“All those cities, all those fields and farms, with nobody, and nothing left alive. Just nothing there. I simply can't take it in.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


“Into the world of romance, of make-belief and double brandies!”
― Nevil Shute, quote from On the Beach


About the author

Nevil Shute
Born place: in London, England, The United Kingdom
Born date January 17, 1899
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Her father said she was a princess. He did not see that she was a brave knight.”
― Anne Ursu, quote from Breadcrumbs


“Why do you rant and brag with such a spate of words, as if you wanted to overwhelm me with a sort of tempest and deluge of oratory-which nevertheless falls with the greater force on your own head, while my ark rides aloft in safety?”
― Martin Luther, quote from The Bondage of the Will


“I do not mind Bedouins,—I am not afraid of them; because neither Bedouins nor ordinary Arabs have shown any disposition to harm us, but I do feel afraid of my own comrades.”
― Mark Twain, quote from The Innocents Abroad


“Politics bores you?" Bronsen said.

Julien smiled. "It does. Apologies, sir, and it is not that I haven't tried to be fascinated. But careful and meticulous research has suggested the hypothesis that all politicians are liars, fools, and tricksters, and I have as yet come across no evidence to the contrary. They can do great damage, and rarely any good. It is the job of the sensible man to try and protect civilization from their depradations.”
― Iain Pears, quote from The Dream of Scipio


“She had fooled herself into believing she was living the life she’d always dreamed of living when all she had been doing was hiding from it.”
― Teresa Medeiros, quote from Goodnight Tweetheart


Interesting books

The Finisher
(9.9K)
The Finisher
by David Baldacci
The Winter Sword
(74)
The Winter Sword
by Alaric Longward
The Zombie Chronicles
(1.5K)
The Zombie Chronicle...
by Chrissy Peebles
Storm Siren
(7.6K)
Storm Siren
by Mary Weber
Broken
(4.9K)
Broken
by J.L. Drake
There but for the
(6.2K)
There but for the
by Ali Smith

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.