Quotes from Red Oleanders

“যক্ষপুরীর হাওয়ায় সুন্দরের পরে অবজ্ঞা ঘটিয়ে দেয়, এইটেই সর্বনেশে। নরকেও সুন্দর আছে, কিন্তু সুন্দরকে কেউ সেখানে বুঝতেই পারে না, নরকবাসীর সব চেয়ে বড়ো সাজা তাই।”
― Rabindranath Tagore, quote from Red Oleanders

“স্বয়ং বিধির কৃপায় মদের বরাদ্দ জগতের চার দিকেই, এমন-কি, তোমাদের ঐ চোখের কটাক্ষে। আমাদের এই বাহুতে আমরা কাজ জোগাই, তোমাদের বাহুর বন্ধনে তোমরা মদ জোগাও। জীবলোকে মজুরি করতে হয়, আবার মজুরি ভুলতেও হয়। মদ না হলে ভোলাবে কিসে।”
― Rabindranath Tagore, quote from Red Oleanders

“: বাজে কথা বাদ দিয়ে আসল কথা আদায় করাই তো পণ্ডিতের অভিপ্রায়।
: কিন্তু বিধাতার নয়। তিনি আসল জিনিস সৃষ্টি করেছেন বাজে জিনিসকে লালন করবার জন্যে। তিনি সম্মান দেন ফলের আঁঠিকে, ভালোবাসা দেন ফলের শাঁসকে।”
― Rabindranath Tagore, quote from Red Oleanders

“: রাজা বলে, পুরাণ বলে কিছুই নেই। বর্তমান কালটাই কেবল বেড়ে বেড়ে চলেছে।
: পুরাণ যদি নেই তা হলে কিছু আছে কী করে? পিছন যদি না থাকে তো সামনেটা কি থাকতে পারে?
: রাজা বলেন, মহাকাল নবীনকে সম্মুখে প্রকাশ করে চলেছে, পণ্ডিত সেই কথাটাকে চাপা দিয়ে বলে : মহাকাল পুরাতনকে পিছনে বয়ে নিয়ে যাচ্ছে।”
― Rabindranath Tagore, quote from Red Oleanders

“বুঝছ না? আমাদের তো শুধু একটা চেহারা, সর্দারের চেহারা। কিন্তু ওর-যে এক পিঠে গোঁসাই, আর-এক পিঠে সর্দার। নামাবলিটা একটু ফেঁসে গেলেই সেটা ফাঁস হয়ে পড়ে। তাই সর্দারিধর্মটা নিজের অগোচরে পালন করতে হয়, তা হলে নামজপের বেলায় খুব বেশি বাধে না।”
― Rabindranath Tagore, quote from Red Oleanders

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Popular quotes

“He knows that for all the undeserved bounty of his life, she will always be there, at the edge of his vision, to remind him of all the things he can never have.”
― Brady Udall, quote from The Lonely Polygamist

“A man is more than the sum of all the things he can do.”
― Bill Clinton, quote from My Life

“Joe Lon and Willard slipped out of their shirts. Willard flipped over and walked around in the dirt on his hands. Joe Lon took the bottle of whiskey out of his back pocket, set it carefully on the step of the Winnebago, checking out Susan Gender's red pants again as he did. Then he went into a steady handstand and did six dips, his nose just short of the dirt each time he went down. They both came off their hands and looked at Duffy.

"I'm impressed," said Duffy, shortly. "What the hell are you, gymnasts?"

"Drunks," said Joe Lon picking up the bottle.”
― Harry Crews, quote from A Feast of Snakes

“No words need be wasted over the fact that all these narcotics are harmful. The question whether even a small quantity of alcohol is harmful or whether the harm results only from the abuse of alcoholic beverages is not at issue here. It is an established fact that alcoholism, cocainism, and morphinism are deadly enemies of life, of health, and of the capacity for work and enjoyment; and a utilitarian must therefore consider them as vices. But this is far from demonstrating that the authorities must interpose to suppress these vices by commercial prohibitions, nor is it by any means evident that such intervention on the part of the government is really capable of suppressing them or that, even if this end could be attained, it might not therewith open up a Pandora's box of other dangers, no less mischievous than alcoholism and morphinism.
Whoever is convinced that indulgence or excessive indulgence in these poisons is pernicious is not hindered from living abstemiously or temperately. This question cannot be treated exclusively in reference to alcoholism, morphinism, cocainism, etc., which all reasonable men acknowledge to be evils. For if the majority of citizens is, in principle, conceded the right to impose its way of life upon a minority, it is impossible to stop at prohibitions against indulgence in alcohol, morphine, cocaine, and similar poisons. Why should not what is valid for these poisons be valid also for nicotine, caffeine, and the like? Why should not the state generally prescribe which foods may be indulged in and which must be avoided because they are injurious? In sports too, many people are prone to carry their indulgence further than their strength will allow. Why should not the state interfere here as well? Few men know how to be temperate in their sexual life, and it seems especially difficult for aging persons to understand that they should cease entirely to indulge in such pleasures or, at least, do so in moderation. Should not the state intervene here too?
More harmful still than all these pleasures, many will say, is the reading of evil literature. Should a press pandering to the lowest instincts of man be allowed to corrupt the soul? Should not the exhibition of pornographic pictures, of obscene plays, in short, of all allurements to immorality, be prohibited? And is not the dissemination of false sociological doctrines just as injurious to men and nations?
Should men be permitted to incite others to civil war and to wars against foreign countries? And should scurrilous lampoons and blasphemous diatribes be allowed to undermine respect for God and the Church?
We see that as soon as we surrender the principle that the state should not interfere in any questions touching on the individual's mode of life, we end by regulating and restricting the latter down to the smallest detail. The personal freedom of the individual is abrogated. He becomes a slave of the community, bound to obey the dictates of the majority. It is hardly necessary to expatiate on the ways in which such powers could be abused by malevolent persons in authority.
The wielding, of powers of this kind even by men imbued with the best of intentions must needs reduce the world to a graveyard of the spirit. All mankind's progress has been achieved as a result of the initiative of a small minority that began to deviate from the ideas and customs of the majority until their example finally moved the others to accept the innovation themselves. To give the majority the right to dictate to the minority what it is to think, to read, and to do is to put a stop to progress once and for all.
Let no one object that the struggle against morphinism and the struggle against
"evil" literature are two quite different things. The only difference between them is that some of the same people who favor the prohibition of the former will not agree to the prohibition of the latter.”
― Ludwig von Mises, quote from Liberalism: The Classical Tradition

“Just as words lose their power when they are not born out of silence, so openness loses its meaning when there is no ability to be closed.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, quote from Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life

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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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