“The problem with paths is that once you have chosen one, You cannot choose the others. Attributed to Gothos”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Kruppe wonders now, in the presentsight, as it were – or is it is? – what pedestrian activities or seemingly innocuous events will, in the hindsight of the future, be seen to be foreshadowings of the grievous event which may, or may not, come to pass, and which, by the forewarning, may thusly be headed off.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“when you think everyone around you is mad, that’s then you should start to suspect it’s actually you.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Freedom - rather more complicated in the concrete than the abstract, yes?”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Tyranny remains because the weak and fearful seek it.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“They are the words of an old man who has lost a great friend. A mourning elder who looks at life only to see death. Such a dark vision must not guide a people. We who see life, who look ahead to the future. We must lead. And”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“The truth is that the goal of existence is to kill you.”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Scillara was not cruel; she was simply not interested and he did not hold this against her. It seemed to him that frankly most people by temperament and character should not be thrust into the role of parents. She was simply uncharacteristic in admitting it. He”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Did we not look out together upon the dark waters of the lake
And behold there the constellations
Of both hemispheres at once?
-Love Songs of the Cinnamon Wastes”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Give and give of y’self till there’s nothing left! Only then can you have something! If you take, you diminish things till there’s nothing left. If you give, you provide and things grow! Yes?”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Speak not to me of the meddling Jaghut!”
― Ian C. Esslemont, quote from Orb Sceptre Throne
“Boredom is what happens to people who have no control over their minds.”
― Rebecca Stead, quote from Liar & Spy
“there was a battered desk with its drawers open and askew, like a lady of the night with her heels kicked off and pantyhose around her ankles.”
― Jen Frederick, quote from Undeclared
“Believe this, young man," exclaimed Shelgrim, layinga thick powerful forefinger on the table to emphasize his words, "try to believe this - to begin with - that railroads build themselves. Where there is a demand sooner or later there will be a supply. Mr. Derrick, does he grow his wheat? The Wheat grows itself. What does he count for? Does he supply the force? What do I count for? Do I build the Railroad? You are dealing with forces, young man, when you speak of Wheat and the Railroads, not with men. There is the Wheat, the supply. It must be carried to feed the People. There is the demand. The Wheat is one force, the Railroad, another, and there is the law that governs them - supply and demand. Men have only little to do in the whole business. Complications may arise, conditions that bear hard on the individual - crush him maybe - but the Wheat will be carried to feed the people as inevitably as it will grow. If you want to fasten the blame of the affair at Los Muertos on any one person, you will make a mistake. Blame conditions, not men.”
― Frank Norris, quote from The Octopus: A Story of California
“If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers...”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, quote from El Principito, El Príncipe feliz y otros cuentos
“But there was not a moment when she did not see Carol in her mind, and all she saw, she seemed to see through Carol. That evening, the dark flat streets of New York, the tomorrow of work, the milk bottle dropped and broken in her sink, became unimportant. She flung herself on her bed and drew a line with a pencil on a piece of paper. And another line, carefully, and another. A world was born around her, like a bright forest with a million shimmering leaves.”
― Patricia Highsmith, quote from The Price of Salt
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.