Quotes from Round the Bend

“You cannot argue stupidity, you just have to accept it patiently as one of those things.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“You can only do a thing for the first time once, and that goes for falling in love.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“I have been asked sometimes what led me to the Persian Gulf, what instinct told me that I could build up a business there. It’s really perfectly simple. If you go to the hottest and most uncomfortable place on the map you’ll find there’s not a lot of competition;”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“An American, a soldier of fortune by profession. Wherever there is trouble in the world the Dwights of all nations foregather. There are not very many of them, thirty or forty perhaps, and they are all supremely competent men because the others have been killed.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“We are not like that, we engineers. We are men of understanding and of education, on whom is laid responsibility that men may travel in these aeroplanes as safely as if they were sitting by the well in the cool of the evening.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“Half a thou too small,” he said. “The difference between Right and Wrong. Half a thou bigger, and it’ld be Right. As it is, it’s Wrong, and you can’t cheat about it.” He smiled again. “Too bad when God gives you the mind of an Inspector, isn’t it?”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“When a good man employs others he becomes a slave to the job, for the job is the guarantee for the security of many men.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“Many evils spring from power,” he said. “Even from the power to do good. All power corrupts, and the intention to do good has little influence on the corruption. Either my words will last after me and be believed by men, or else they won’t. Yet if one thing were required to kill them certainly, it is that my words should be spread after my death by the power of money. No teaching could survive a campaign of paid advertising.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“I still think Connie was a human man, a very, very good one—but a man. I have been wrong in my judgments many times before; if now I am ignorant and blind, I’m sorry, but it’s no new thing. If that should be the case though, it means that I have had great privileges in my life, perhaps more so than any man alive today. Because it means that on the fields and farms of England, on the airstrips of the desert and the jungle, in the hangars of the Persian Gulf and on the tarmacs of the southern islands, I have walked and talked with God.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

“Only by an act of treachery to those who believe in us can either of us escape.”
― Nevil Shute, quote from Round the Bend

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Popular quotes

“Don’t test me right now, Olivia. You don’t know what it did to me—seeing you with those other males, seeing that Tranq’s hands on you—” He broke off with a deep sound of frustration and came toward her again. “I didn’t want him to,” Liv said, still backing away. Her voice was coming out much more breathy than she wanted it to. “He just—” “He just assumed you were available because I hadn’t marked you. But you’re mine Lilenta. Can’t stand another male’s scent anywhere near you. Have to mark you. Now.” The last word was a muted roar. Liv took another step back and something hit the backs of her thighs. Turning her head she saw it was the bed—Baird had backed her into the bedroom. “Please,” she whispered. “What are you going to do to me?” “Whatever I have to, to make you mine.”
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“Hey, Lou!” she yelled. “I meant to say to you. Moving on doesn’t mean you loved my dad any less, you know. I’m pretty sure even he would tell you that.”
― Jojo Moyes, quote from After You

“She's a good person to hug, because her body fills up all the empty spaces.”
― Anita Shreve, quote from Light on Snow

“I know, but I hate him for kissing you.”
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About BookQuoters

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.