Quotes from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“To abstain from politics is in itself a political attitude.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“To be oneself, simply oneself, is so amazing and utterly unique an experience that it's hard to convince oneself so singular a thing happens to everybody.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“Je sais qu'on ne peut jamais se connaître, mais seulement se raconter.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“In the old days the worst part of my depression used to be the astonishment it caused me, the scandalized way in which I fought against it. Nowadays, on the other hand, I accept it cheerfully enough, like an old familiar friend.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“Les cas extrêmes nous attachaient, au même titre que les névroses et les psychoses : on y retrouvait exagérées, épurées, dotées d'un saisissant relief les attitudes et les passions des gens qu'on appelle normaux.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“The comradeship that welded our lives together made a superfluous mockery of any other bond we might have forged for ourselves.What, for instance, was the point of living under the same roof when the whole world was our common property?Why fear to set great distances between us when we could never truly be parted?One single aim fired us, the urge to embrace all experience, and to bear witness concerning it ...That which bound us freed us and in this freedom we found ourselves bound as closely as possible”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“Today it strikes me that the most important aspect of these conversations was not so much what we said as what we took for granted, and what in fact was not so at all. We were wrong about almost everything. An accurate character sketch must take these errors into account, since they expressed one kind of reality - our actual situation.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“Trudging alone along that black road, sometimes in the teeth of wind and rain, and watching the white distant gleam of convolvulus through the park railings, gave me an exhilarating sensation of adventure.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“...which we welcomed precisely because it happened to suit our convenience.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“In those days we saw every sort of object as though it were one of those tiny handkerchiefs from which a conjuror can produce silk scarfs, streamers, flags, and yards of ribbon. A cup of coffee became a kaleidoscope in which we could spend ages watching the mutable reflections of ceiling or chandelier.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“There were no scruples, no feelings of respect or loyal affection that would stop us from making up our minds by the pure light of reason - and of our own desires.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“I enjoyed my exhaustion, though; I liked overdoing things”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“Scents, patterns of light and shade, winds and hurricanes — all pulsed inwardly through my own sinews and veins: so much so, indeed, that the throb of my blood stream, the swarming growth of my cells, the whole mystery of life housed within me seemed to be echoed by the shrilling cicadas, the gusts of wind that shook the trees, and the faint crunch of the moss as I trod it underfoot.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

“I was too enamored of truth ever to mourn lost illusions.”
― Simone de Beauvoir, quote from Prime of Life (1929-1944)

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Popular quotes

“I'm gonna kiss you in each room," he said. "Then it's dinnertime."

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“It’s all right,’ said Julian, putting his arm round Anne.”
― Enid Blyton, quote from Five on a Treasure Island

“So what’s next?” I say, wanting more.
Teague looks up the river, and then back at me.
“I want to show you something,” he tells me.
“What do you want to show me?” I say, surprising even myself at how hopelessly flirty I sound.
“You’ll see,” he says. “But you have to promise me something.”
I tilt my head and twinkle my eyes. “You sure are making me promise a lot!”
Teague grins. “No, honestly, promise you won’t show anyone. It’s like--”
He pauses.
“Top secret?”
“Right.” He smiles. “Top secret.”
Do you want to seal this little agreement with a kiss?
No-o-o-o-o-o.
I think it through. I think it, and nod. Yes. And I follow him. I follow him along the rocks beside the river, until he stops in his tracks and turns to me with his finger over his lips.
“Shhh.” He motions and nods up into the canopy of trees we are standing under.
I look up.
“What?” I whisper.
Teague ducks behind me, right behind me--so close I can feel his breath on my neck.
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― Megan Shull, quote from Amazing Grace

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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.

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.