Quotes from Parrot and Olivier in America

Peter Carey ·  464 pages

Rating: (6.6K votes)


“I have traveled widely. I have seen this country in its infancy. I tell you what it will become. The public squares will be occupied by an uneducated class who will not be able to quote a line of Shakespeare.”
― Peter Carey, quote from Parrot and Olivier in America


“I had known loneliness before, and emptiness upon the moor, but I had never been a NOTHING, a nothing floating on a nothing, known by nothing, lonelier and colder than the space between the stars. It was more frightening than being dead.”
― Peter Carey, quote from Parrot and Olivier in America


“What a torture to hear that a life had been available to me that I had not been man enough to live.”
― Peter Carey, quote from Parrot and Olivier in America


“Would you rather have the lords and nobles back? What is Democracy for? Not so we can rob each other. Or cheat.' I said cheat and felt the teeth in it, the cleat, the cut, the eat.”
― Peter Carey, quote from Parrot and Olivier in America


“The seamen had whitewashed the smoky ceilings of the ward, and that dear homely smell carried the vividness of thatch and lumpy walls and stew given from the goodness of a stranger's heart. But that was all there was of comfort, and the salt air had turned from cold to warm in the passing of a life, an afternoon.”
― Peter Carey, quote from Parrot and Olivier in America



“[Democracy] is as without plans as it is without energy, as incapable of harm as it is incapable of good. It is powerless and passive. It lets society marcher tout seul without trying to direct it. Well, in the present state of affairs, it is perfect, no? In order to prosper? America does not need either leadership or deep-laid plans or great efforts, but liberty and still more liberty. The reason for this is that no one yet has any interest in abusing liberty. but wait, monsieur. It may take a century but le fou viendra.”
― Peter Carey, quote from Parrot and Olivier in America


Video

About the author

Peter Carey
Born place: in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia
Born date May 7, 1943
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Greg starts a middle school and asks: Why
is "bullies" such a big PROBLEM? And says
people need to shave twice a day.”
― Jeff Kinney, quote from Diary of a Wimpy Kid


“I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around him, kissing him just as desperately as he was kissing me. Like if we could just love long enough and hard enough and deep enough, then the world outside would never, could never hurt us.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Noughts & Crosses


“Tell me what to wish for." Tell me what to ask the sea for."
"To be happy. Happiness."
"I don't think such a thing is had on Thisby. And if it is, I don't know how you would keep it."
"You whisper to it. What it needs to hear. Isn't that what you said?"
"That's what I said. What do I need to hear?"
"That tomorrow we'll rule the Scorpio Races as king and queen of Skarmouth and I'll save the house and you'll have your stallion. Dove will eat golden oats for the rest of her days and you will terrorize the races each year and people will come from every island in the world to find out how it is you get horses to listen to you. The piebald will carry Mutt Malvern into the sea and Gabriel will decide to stay on the island. I will have a farm and you will bring me bread for dinner."
"That's what I needed to hear.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, quote from The Scorpio Races


“Aurora is right,” Willa said, sounding sad to be agreeing with her.”
― Amanda Hocking, quote from Torn


“A prophet is the one who, when everyone else despairs, hopes. And when everyone else hopes, he despairs. You’ll ask me why. It’s because he has mastered the Great Secret: that the Wheel turns.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, quote from The Last Temptation of Christ


Interesting books

Shades of Gray
(5.4K)
Firelight
(11.7K)
Firelight
by Kristen Callihan
Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
(11.5K)
Black Elk Speaks: Be...
by Black Elk
The Unknown Ajax
(6.5K)
The Unknown Ajax
by Georgette Heyer
Rock Chick Revolution
(23.2K)
Rock Chick Revolutio...
by Kristen Ashley
Tied
(14.2K)
Tied
by Emma Chase

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.