Quotes from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Life is too short to be lived badly.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“I finally understood what my grandmother meant. If I wasn't comfortable with myself, I would never be comfortable.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“You are putting yourself in serious danger...'

I think that I preferred to put myself in serious danger rather than confront my shame. My shame at not having become someone, the shame of not having made my parents proud after all the sacrifices they had made for me. The shame of having become a mediocre nihilist.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Culture and education are the lethal weapons against all kinds of fundamentalism.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“In any case, it's the cowardice of people like you who give dictators the chance to install themselves!”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“I was a westerner in Iran, an Iranian in the West. I had no identity. I didn't even know anymore why I was living.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Oh my!! How you've grown. Soon you'll be catching the Lord's balls.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Prosperity consists of two things: tea after a meal, and a cigarette after tea.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Is religion defending our physical integrity or is it just opposed to fashion?”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“I'm happy to see you so well-settled here. Now you must make an effort, you must become somebody. I don't care what you do later, only try to be the best. Even if you become a cabaret dance, better that you dance at the lido than in a hole in the wall.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Night fell... "Night brings good counsel", my grandmother always told me.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“The harder I tried to assimilate, the more I had the feeling that I was distancing myself from my culture, betraying my parents and my origins, that I was playing a game by somebody else's rules.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“I wanted to die. Where were my parents to take me in their arms, to reassure me?”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“What do you want me to say, sir? That I'm the vegetable that I refused to become, that I'm so disappointed in myself that I can no longee look at myself in the mirror? That I hate myself?”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“Third: live together as long as you feel truly happy. Life is too short to be lived badly.”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

“In retrospect, I can see that I had always known that it wouldn't between us. But after my pitiful love story in Vienna, I needed to believe in someone again...”
― Marjane Satrapi, quote from Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return

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Popular quotes

“get the collection of blankets and rugs from the boat. They arranged them in the corners of the little room, and thought that it would be very exciting to spend the night there. ‘The two girls can sleep together on this pile of rugs,’ said Julian. ‘And we two boys will have this pile.’ George looked as if she didn’t want to be put with Anne, and classed as a girl. But Anne didn’t”
― Enid Blyton, quote from Five on a Treasure Island

“See it?” he whispers.
I squint up into the tree and try to concentrate on whatever it is I am supposed to see and not on Teague’s soothing voice and that fact that I’m melting.
“Um,” I say softly, “what am I loo--”
But before I get the words out, I see it.
An eagle.
It’s massive, with a white head and white tail feathers and bright yellow feet, like you see in pictures.
“It’s a bald eagle,” he whispers. “They like to wait here by the river and feast on salmon carcasses.”
“Salmon carcasses?” I whisper.
“Yeah,” he says. “After the salmon spawn, they die.”
“They just die?” I sigh.
“Yeah,” breathes Teague.
Goose bumps.
“There will be a lot more up here soon,” he says softly. “They come in droves, hundreds of them in November, when food is scarce.”
“Oh,” I say, and stand openmouthed as the bird launches off its perch and soars. Its wingspan must be at least three feet on either side. I feel like I’m in a National Geographic special.
“Did you know they mate for life?” says Teague, still whispering.
“No, I didn’t,” I say, half listening and half noting that Teague seems to be a genius.”
― Megan Shull, quote from Amazing Grace

“The electron is first of all your concept of the electron.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, quote from Being Peace

“Не могу со всей силой не подчеркнуть опасность, когда кто-либо из ваших друзей возьмёт да женится или возьмёт да станет придворным изобретателем. Вот ты являешься членом Нелегальной Колонии, окружён искателями приключений, готовыми пуститься в путь, как только им взгрустнётся, и у тебя обширный выбор — вся карта мира...
...И вдруг всё это их уже не интересует. Они хотят сидеть в тепле. Они боятся дождя. Они начинают собирать всякие большие вещи, которые нельзя упаковать, и болтают о пустяках. Им слабо внезапно решиться и переиначить свою жизнь. Прежде они ставили паруса, а теперь кропают этажерки для фарфора. О, можно ли без слёз говорить о подобных вещах!”
― Tove Jansson, quote from Moominpappa's Memoirs

“In the old law, God was praised both with musical instruments, and human voices. But the church does not use musical instruments to praise God, lest she should seem to judaize.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

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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.

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