“I’m a Russian. Without the Motherland, I’d be nothing.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“No, that’s not the style of these people,’ explained Maxy. ‘You shouldn’t think of these Bolsheviks as modern politicians. They were religious fanatics. Their Marxism was fanatical; their fervour was semi-Islamic; and they saw themselves as members of a secret military-religious order like the medieval Crusaders or the Knights Templar. They were ruthless, amoral and paranoid. They believed that millions would have to die to create their perfect world. Family, love and friendship were nothing compared to the holy grail. People died of gossip at Stalin’s court. For a man like Satinov, secrecy was everything.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“- Nego, kako ti je žena?
On odmahnu glavom.
- Ja sam duhom daleko od svog doma. Dolazim i odlazim kao avet. Uviđam i sam da sumnjam u sve u šta sam nekada verovao.
- (...) a s kim ti razgovaraš?
- Ni sa kim. Ne sa svojom ženom. Pomislim ponekad kako si ti možda jedina s kojom ne moram da se pretvaram jer nas dvoje se samo napola znamo, nismo bliski prijatelji, shvataš?
Sašenjka se nasmeši.
- Kakav smo mi čudan par!
Zatvorila je oči i pustila da joj vetar i pahuljice snega hlade lice.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“Mi pisci imamo neku tajnu koja nas održava u životu i daje nam nadu, mada znamo da to što pišemo nikad nećemo moći da objavimo. Isak Babelj radi na nečemu tajnom, Miša Bulgakov piše roman o đavolu u Moskvi. Ali niko ih nikad neće čitati. Niko ni mene neće čitati.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“Young Stalin Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar Potemkin: Catherine the Great’s Imperial Partner”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“Šta bi bilo kada bih ti sad rekao, bez glupiranja, da kroz ova vrata ulazimo u tajni svet u kojem niko ne može da nas vidi i takne, svet u kome ću te voleti više od samog života? Znam da nije palata. Možda je samo bedna baštenska šupa, ali je i šupa u kojoj želim da te obožavam i volim ne traćeći više ni sekund svog kratkog života u ovom zlokobnom svetu. Možda smešno zvuči, ali došla si u leto mog života. Ja nisam star, ali nisam više ni mlad, i poznajem sebe. Ti si jedina žena mog života, žena koje ću se setiti na samrti. (...) Benja je uze u zagrljaj i ona po njegovom pogledu i čvrstini njegovih usana nasluti da ozbiljno misli ono što je rekao, da je stvarno voli i da je ovaj trenutak, u njihovom intimnom svetu, jedan od onih svetih događaja koji se zbivaju jednom ili dvaput u životu, a nekome se nikada i ne dogode.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“You’re too cute, Katinka, for a historian.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
“Nijedan dan, nijedan sat, nijedan minut nije prošao a da ga nije razdirala želja da je vidi, da joj priča, da je dodiruje. Žudeo je da se naslađuje gledajući je, da napoji svoja sećanja, tako da posle, kad više ne bude s njom, može u mislima da je dodirne i oseti. (...) Ali ljubav uvek rađa patnju. (...) Može li to potrajati? Ne smemo gubiti ni trenutka, pomislio je.”
― Simon Sebag Montefiore, quote from Sashenka
Simon Sebag Montefiore
Born place: in London, The United Kingdom
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“If I start to write down my feelings, isn't that the same as writing down my problems? Won't it be dangerous? What if then I feel like I need to tell someone my problems? Will they be angry? Will they leave? "It's just a book", I tell myself. "It's just a book and a book can't leave me. A book can't decide who it wants to be with. The worst that can happen is I don't do it anymore, right? I'll give it a try.”
― Cecily Anne Paterson, quote from Invisible
“Life is about the good and the bad. Good is easy. Bad is hard. Finding a way to make good from the bad is the secret. The few who discover the ability within themselves--nothing can stand in their way of happiness.”
― quote from First Night of Summer
“She once told me of a night that fumed with escapes and was filled with bedsides reeking of ecstasy; she told me the stars cast not judgments, but blessings, knowing full well the disastrous outcomes of the deeds they cradled with the strings of their young hearts. She’d inhaled the night itself, those around her doing the same, and so all become one. No disharmony. No discordance. Nothing to shatter the cause; nothing to unearth the beauty. So as we together ascended that front porch, allowing the glow behind the blown-out windows and the odious steams plunder us from through the cracks...time forgot to distill us, and our steps became as silver as glass. I could no longer deny the boiling words of my blood: tonight would be the beginning of a very long road indeed.”
― Dave Matthes, quote from Sleepeth Not, the Bastard
“Your medicine men have repeatedly told you, ‘Life is a dream.’ You must decide whether you are the dream �or the dreamer.”
― Elizabeth M. Herrera, quote from Earth Sentinels: The Storm Creators
“The World Has Need Of You”
everything here
seems to need us
—Rainer Maria Rilke
I can hardly imagine it
as I walk to the lighthouse, feeling the ancient
prayer of my arms swinging
in counterpoint to my feet.
Here I am, suspended
between the sidewalk and twilight,
the sky dimming so fast it seems alive.
What if you felt the invisible
tug between you and everything?
A boy on a bicycle rides by,
his white shirt open, flaring
behind him like wings.
It’s a hard time to be human. We know too much
and too little. Does the breeze need us?
The cliffs? The gulls?
If you’ve managed to do one good thing,
the ocean doesn’t care.
But when Newton’s apple fell toward the earth,
the earth, ever so slightly, fell
toward the apple.”
― Ellen Bass, quote from Like a Beggar
Undefeated
Open City
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Trapped
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The Future of the Mi...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.
