“What is past, one cannot change,
so each backward glance is a bit of the present slipping away.”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“If there is no wind, you must learn to row. —Polish Proverb”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“Push not the river; it will flow on its own accord. —Polish Proverb”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“Life is like the moon— now dark, now full. —Polish Proverb”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“No man knows courage,” his father had told him, “who has not known fear.”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“Few Polish citizens left on the Praga side of the River Vistula were allowed to live. The burning of the bridge was fortuitous, however, for the Russians were held at bay, allowing the night to cool their red rage. In the morning, the English ambassador to Poland and the Papal Nuncio crossed the river and secured from Suvorov assurance that the capital would be taken peacefully.”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“There are three things that are difficult to keep hidden: a fire, a cold, and love. —Polish Proverb”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“There's no key to the woods and fields.”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“Wherever you go, you can never leave yourself behind. —Polish Proverb”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“Follow your heart. Indulge your whims. They are usually correct. And when they are not, do not allow the world to judge you overly much.”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“A child, she reasoned, does not pick its parents nor the circumstances of its birth. A”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“The roots of learning are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. —Polish Proverb”
― James Conroyd Martin, quote from Push Not the River
“The point of the story is that the universe is one gigantic Wishing Tree, with branches that reach into every heart. The cosmic process decrees that sometime or other, in this life or another, each of these wishes will be granted—together, of course, with consequences.”
― Huston Smith, quote from The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions
“Me ha hablado de la "presión social", lo que por lo visto quiere decir dejar que los demás te dirijan la vida.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from Beauty
“All credit to the men who invented paint and canvas, but there’s more credit, eh? to the Raphaels and Holbeins who used those discoveries! Laennec and Osler, those are the men! It’s all very fine, this business of pure research: seeking the truth, unhampered by commercialism or fame-chasing. Getting to the bottom. Ignoring consequences and practical uses. But do you realize if you carry that idea far enough, a man could justify himself for doing nothing but count the cobblestones on Warehouse Avenue — yes and justify himself for torturing people just to see how they screamed — and then sneer at a man who was making millions of people well and happy!”
― Sinclair Lewis, quote from Arrowsmith
“And you, a king’s daughter, who willingly gave herself to me—who brought me to her bed? Are you so high and pure?” She”
― Tad Williams, quote from To Green Angel Tower, Part 1
“Interpretation though the filters of ideology has always been one of our race’s curses.”
― Peter F. Hamilton, quote from The Neutronium Alchemist
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.