“Hu’s heart clanged like fifteen buckets in a single well.”
― Shi Nai'an, quote from Outlaws of the Marsh
“When I tell you you’ll fart and pee in your pants with terror.”
― Shi Nai'an, quote from Outlaws of the Marsh
“The old woman’s face was wreathed in smiles.”
― Shi Nai'an, quote from Outlaws of the Marsh
“Truly, flowers open, only to be blown down by the wind.”
― Shi Nai'an, quote from Outlaws of the Marsh
“Li Gui called out, "Sir, if you kill me you will kill two persons."
"How do you make that out?" asked Li Kui, staying the blow.
"At home I support my mother who is ninety years of age, and this is my only means of helping her in her old age," said Li Gui. "I never injure people, but only make them afraid. If you kill me, my old mother will die of starvation."
Li Kui who never twinkled his eyes in chopping off people's heads, paused and thought when he heard this. "Here am I trying to succour my old mother, and yet killing a man who supports his old mother. Heaven will not allow me to live if I do this. No! No! I will forgive this man.
(J.H. Jackson translation)”
― Shi Nai'an, quote from Outlaws of the Marsh
“...everyone's too busy having a good time to care about anyone else."
"This sucks," Alex said sullenly. "If someone murders you and you get revived and come back to wreak vengeance on your killers, they could at least have the decency to notice you.”
― Meg Cabot, quote from Awaken
“The other veteran said "Listen, mate, everybody gets scared, and anybody says he don't is a damn liar”
― Eugene B. Sledge, quote from With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
“I find lateness exceptionally rude; it’s so disrespectful, implying unambiguously that you consider yourself and your own time to be so much more valuable than the other person’s.”
― Gail Honeyman, quote from Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
“Being dead didn't make Jack Mercy any less of a son of a bitch”
― Nora Roberts, quote from Montana Sky
“I noticed then that the red-haired woman was buying the food you eat when you live alone: a box of cereal, a few apples, a plastic container of plain yogurt....With an abrupt clarity, I saw how I had been launched into another category. I had been the red-haired woman; for a decade of my adult life, I had bought cereal and yogurt, I'd stood near couples and watched them nuzzle, and now I was part of such a couple. And I would not be launched back, I was certain. But I recognized her life, I knew it so well! I wanted to clasp her freckled hand, to say to her--surely we understood some shared code (or surely not, surely she'd have thought me preposterous)--It's good on the other side, but it's good on your side too. Enjoy it there. The loneliness is harder and the loneliness is the biggest part; but some things are easier.”
― Curtis Sittenfeld, quote from American Wife
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.