Quotes from Passing

Nella Larsen ·  122 pages

Rating: (14.1K votes)


“The trouble with Clare was, not only that she wanted to have her cake and eat it too, but that she wanted to nibble at the cakes of other folk as well.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“It hurt. It hurt like hell. But it didn’t matter, if no one knew.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“Everything can't be explained by some general biological phrase.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“I feel like the oldest person in the world with the longest stretch of life before me.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“Well, what of it? If sex isn’t a joke, what is it”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing



“And yet she hadn't the air of a woman whose life had been touched by uncertainty or suffering. Pain, fear, and grief were things that left their mark on people. Even love, that exquisite torturing emotion, left its subtle traces on the countenance.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“She isn't stupid. She's intelligent enough in a purely feminine way. Eighteenth-century France would have been a marvellous setting for her, or the old South if she hadn't made the mistake of being born a Negro.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“But she did not look the future in the face. She wanted to feel nothing, to think nothing; simply to believe that it was all silly invention on her part. Yet she could not. Not quite.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“She wished to find out about this hazardous business of “passing,” this breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one’s chance in another environment, not entirely strange, perhaps, but certainly not entirely friendly.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“I'm not such an idiot that I don't realize that if a man calls me a nigger it's his fault the first time, but mine if he has the opportunity to do it again.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing



“The trouble with Clare was not only that she wanted to have her cake and eat it too but that she wanted to nibble at the cakes of other folk as well.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“Money's awfully nice to have. In
fact, all things considered, I think, 'Rene, that
it's even worth the price.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“she regarded with an astonishment that had in it a mild degree of amusement the violence of the feelings which it stirred in her.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


“She laughed and the ringing bells in her laugh had a hard metallic sound.”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Passing


About the author

Nella Larsen
Born place: in Chicago, Illinois, The United States
Born date April 13, 1891
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I Swear Somewhere This Works In a parallel universe or another world or a different life, we sit across from each other at the kitchen table and go over the grocery list.”
― Trista Mateer, quote from The Dogs I Have Kissed


“Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.”
― Michel de Montaigne, quote from The Complete Essays of Montaigne


“Why do you think that great leaders and thinkers throughout history have “gone out into the wilderness” and come back with inspiration, with a plan, with an experience that puts them on a course that changes the world? It’s because in doing so they found perspective, they understood the larger picture in a way that wasn’t possible in the bustle of everyday life. Silencing the noise around them, they could finally hear the quiet voice they needed to listen to. Creativity”
― Ryan Holiday, quote from Ego Is the Enemy


“She thinks my name is Freddie, you know, but of course it ain't. I
always tell these people some name like that, because if they got onto
your right name they might use it sometime. Understand?”
― Stephen Crane, quote from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets


“She not no fool, Lilith tell herself. She not a sleeping princess and Robert Quinn is not no king or prince. He just a man with broad shoulders and black hair who call her lovey and she like that more than her own name. She don’t want the man to deliver her, she just want to climb in the bed and feel he wrap himself around her.”
― Marlon James, quote from Book Of Night Women


Interesting books

Scorch
(3.8K)
Scorch
by Gina Damico
There is No Light in Darkness
(12.9K)
There is No Light in...
by Claire Contreras
Spirit
(7.2K)
Spirit
by Brigid Kemmerer
The Marriage Merger
(14.2K)
The Marriage Merger
by Jennifer Probst
How to Marry a Marquis
(13.4K)
How to Marry a Marqu...
by Julia Quinn
Falling into Place
(14.7K)
Falling into Place
by Amy Zhang

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.