“A lot of our perception of history is influenced by inaccurate movies.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“Everyone looked pensive, which is good cover-up for clueless.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“I don't like mysteries, which is why I want to solve them. It bothers me that there are things I don't know.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“The air was so thick with testosterone that the wallpaper was getting soggy.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“As with real estate, what matters with bullet holes is location, location, location.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“Anyway, I’m getting really intolerant of liars, fools, blowhards, and power freaks.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“Don’t buy anything. My philosophy is, if it flies, floats, or fucks, rent it.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“I read about a John Shelby of Thackham, England, who in 1672 was thrown from his horse into a thicket where he found an iron pot containing more than five hundred gold coins. According to the treasure trove laws of England, all hidden or lost property belonged to the Crown. However, Shelby refused to give the gold to the king’s officers, and he was arrested, tried for treason, and beheaded. This was probably a favorite story of the IRS.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“As we say, if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“I thought again of how Tobin had already killed five good people and was about to be the cause of two more dying. I couldn’t believe that this little turd had actually caused all this death and misery. The only explanation I had for it was that short people with beady eyes and big appetites were ruthless and dangerous.”
― Nelson DeMille, quote from Plum Island
“A Muzak version of 'Imagine' comes on and John Lennon wakes up in his tomb, appalled.”
― David Mitchell, quote from number9dream
“Whether or not he still wanted me, I knew he wouldn’t want anyone else to have me.”
― Penelope Douglas, quote from Rival
“This is not a new idea; this is the idea of the age of reason. This is the philosophy that guided the men that made the democracy that we live under. The idea that no one really knew how to run a government led to the idea that we should arrange a system by which new ideas could be developed, tried out, and tossed out if necessary, with more new ideas brought in—a trial and error system.”
― Richard Feynman, quote from What Do You Care What Other People Think?
“But if you were investigating a crime,” said Lady Swaffham, “you’d have to begin by the usual things, I suppose — finding out what the person had been doing, and who’d been to call, and looking for a motive, wouldn’t you?”
“Oh, yes,” said Lord Peter, “but most of us have such dozens of motives for murderin’ all sorts of inoffensive people. There’s lots of people I’d like to murder, wouldn’t you?”
“Heaps,” said Lady Swaffham.”
― Dorothy L. Sayers, quote from Whose Body?
“I myself," said Gibbon, "am slightly underdone in the personal worthlessness line. It was Papa's fault. He used no irony. The communications mix offered by the parent to the child is as you know twelve percent do this, eighty-two percent don't do that, and six percent huggles and endearments. That is standard. Now, to avoid boring himself or herself to death during this monition the parent enlivens the discourse with wit, usually irony of the cheaper sort. The irony ambigufies the message, but more importantly establishes in the child the sense of personal lack-of-worth. Because the child understands that one who is talked to in this way is not much of a something. Ten years of it goes a long way. Fifteen is better. That is where Pap fell down. He eschewed irony.”
― Donald Barthelme, quote from Sixty Stories
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.