Quotes from Papillon

“We have too much technological
progress, life is too hectic, and our society has only one goal: to invent
still more technological marvels to make life even easier and better.
The craving for every new scientific discovery breeds a hunger for
greater comfort and the constant struggle to achieve it. All that kills the
soul, kills compassion, understanding, nobility. It leaves no time for
caring what happens to other people, least of all criminals. Even the
officials in Venezuela's remote areas are better for they're also
concerned with public peace. It gives them many headaches, but they
seem to believe that bringing about a man's salvation is worth the
effort. I find that magnificent.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“I’ve known this a long time, because when Napoleon III created the bagnes and was asked: “But who will guard these bandits?” he answered: “Worse bandits.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“We have too much technological progress, life is too hectic, and our society has only one goal: to invent still more technological marvels to make life even easier and better. The craving for every new scientific discovery breeds a hunger for greater comfort and the constant struggle to achieve it. All that kills the soul, kills compassion, understanding, nobility. It leaves no time for caring what happens to other people, least of all criminals.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“I must prove that I can be, that I am and will be, a normal person. Perhaps no better, but certainly no worse than the rest.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“It was worth having made this break for the people, the human beings it had brought me into contact with. Although it had failed, my escape had been a victory, merely by having enriched my heart with the friendship of these wonderful people. No, I was not sorry. I had done it.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“The important thing was that we were alive...”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“This was 1941 and I'd been in prison eleven years. I was thirty-five. I'd spent the best years of my life either in a cell or in a black-hole. I'd only had seven months of total freedom with my Indian tribe. The children my Indian wives must have had by me would be eight years old now. How terrible! How quickly the time had flashed by! But a backward glance showed all these hours and minutes studding my calvary as terribly long, and each one of them hard to bear.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“Those who haven't been exposed to the hypocrisies of a civilized education react to things 'naturally', as they happen. It is in the here and now that they are either happy or unhappy, joyful or sad, interested or indifferent.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“Sleep in peace, you members of the jury who condemned me to this place; sleep in peace,”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“You want me to be killed? Why are you taking away my knife? I guess you realize you’re sending me to my grave?”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“He even whispered in my ear: “You suffer; you will suffer more. But this time I am on your side. You will be free. You will, I promise you.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“What should we do? I was beginning to understand a few words of Spanish: to escape, fugar; prisoner, preso; to kill, matar; chain, cadena; handcuffs, esposas; man, hombre; woman, mujer.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“I am not a good enough writer to convey the intense emotion I felt over my newfound self-respect. It was a rehabilitation, if not a new life. This imaginary baptism, the immersion in purity, the elevation of my being above the filth in which I'd been mired and, overnight, this sense of responsibility, made me into a different man. The convict's complexes that make him hear his chains and suspect he's being watched even after he's freed, everything I'd seen, gone through, suffered, everything that was making me tarnished, rotten and dangerous, passively obedient on the surface but terribly dangerous in rebellion, all that had disappeared as if by a miracle.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“evet, şu sıra yalnızlığa katlanabilmek, eskisinden de güç. . Öyle bir haldeyim ki, düşüncelerimle geçmişte ve günümüzde gezinmek için gözlerimi kapamam bile gerekmiyor.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“Mahkümluk serüvenimn son gecesinn siniriyle hamağımda dönüp duruyorm. Yerimden kalkıyor,son aylarda çok iyi baktığm bahçemde geziniyorum.Ay ışığı ortalığı gün gibi aydınlatıyor. Nehrin suyu, gürültü etmeden denize doğru akıyor. Kuş sesi duyulmuyor, hepsi uykuda. Gökyüzü yıldızlarla kaplı, ama ay öylesine parlak ki yıldızları görebilmek için ona sırt çevirmek gerek. Tam karşımda sık orman, tek açıklık..El Dorado köyünün yapıldığı yer. Doğanın bu derin sessizliği beni dinlendiriyor. İçimdeki telaş yavaş yavaş diniyor, bu anın durgunluğu…ihtiyaç duyduğum huzuru sağlıyor bana”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“Една пеперуда влетя — бледосиня с тънка черна лента, а някъде близо до нея зад прозореца зажужа пчела. Какво ли правеха тези живинки тук? Дали ги беше объркало зимното слънце, или търсеха да се скрият в затвора от студ? Пеперудата зиме е случайно възкръснало същество. Как ли се е спасила от смъртта? А пчеличката защо ли е напуснала кошера си? Каква неосъзната храброст — да дойдат тук! Добре че отговорникът няма криле, защото иначе няма за дълго да ги остави живички.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“the butterflies that had just hatched hurried into the light to find love as”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

“...pergunto a mim próprio até que ponto o silêncio absoluto
e o completo isolamento infligidos a um jovem encerrado numa cela podem,
antes de o levarem à loucura, dar azo a uma verdadeira vida imaginativa.
Vida de tal modo intensa , de tal modo viva, que o indivíduo se desdobra literalmente.
Levanta voo e vai vagabundear por onde lhe apetece. (...), os castelos no ar que o seu
fecundo espírito inventa, que ele cria com uma imaginação tão incrivelmente fértil que, (...),
chega a pensar que está a viver tudo quanto vai sonhando.”
― Henri Charrière, quote from Papillon

About the author

Popular quotes

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“love you…all of you. Even your scars.”
― Meredith Wild, quote from Hard Limit

“On this particular day her father, the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex, and a widower, was suffering from an attack of gout. After finishing her household supervision Elfride became restless, and several times left the room, ascended the staircase, and knocked at her father's chamber-door.
'Come in!' was always answered in a heart out-of-door voice from the inside.
'Papa,' she said on one occasion to the fine, red-faced, handsome man of forty, who, puffing and fizzing like a bursting bottle, lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown, and every now and then enunciating, in spite of himself, about one letter of some word or words that were almost oaths; 'papa, will you not come downstairs this evening?' She spoke distinctly: he was rather deaf.
'Afraid not - eh-h-h! - very much afraid I shall not, Elfride. Piph-ph-ph! I can't bear even a handkerchief upon this deuced toe of mine, much less a stocking or slipper - piph-ph-ph! There 'tis again! No, I shan't get up till tomorrow.'
'Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do, papa.'
'Well, it would be awkward, certainly.'
'I should hardly think he would come today.'
'Why?'
'Because the wind blows so.'
'Wind! What ideas you have, Elfride! Who ever heard of wind stopping a man from doing his business? The idea of this toe of mine coming on so suddenly!... If he should come, you must send him up to me, I suppose, and then give him some food and put him to bed in some way. Dear me, what a nuisance all this is!'
'Must he have dinner?'
'Too heavy for a tired man at the end of a tedious journey.'
'Tea, then?'
'Not substantial enough.'
'High tea, then? There is cold fowl, rabbit-pie, some pasties, and things of that kind.'
'Yes, high tea.'
'Must I pour out his tea, papa?'
'Of course; you are the mistress of the house.'
'What! sit there all the time with a stranger, just as if I knew him, and not anybody to introduce us?'
'Nonsense, child, about introducing; you know better than that. A practical professional man, tired and hungry, who has been travelling ever since daylight this morning, will hardly be inclined to talk and air courtesies tonight. He wants food and shelter, and you must see that he has it, simply because I am suddenly laid up and cannot. There is nothing so dreadful in that, I hope? You get all kinds of stuff into your head from reading so many of those novels.”
― Thomas Hardy, quote from A Pair of Blue Eyes

“They were nice, friendly people, and they invited us to share their fire and drink a cup of rancid butter tea with them.”
― Heinrich Harrer, quote from Seven Years in Tibet (Paladin Books)

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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.