Quotes from Secret Smile

Nicci French ·  384 pages

Rating: (3.8K votes)


“And how do you undo damage that’s been built into the foundations? With houses, it’s easier to pull the whole thing down and start again. You can’t do that with people.”
― Nicci French, quote from Secret Smile


“it was like glass sandpaper being rubbed on my skin.”
― Nicci French, quote from Secret Smile


“Better to start too slowly and build up,” said a piece of text in italics, “than start too quickly and give up.”
― Nicci French, quote from Secret Smile


“If you call the day after, you’re maybe a bit desperate because, since the first day is out of the question, the second day is really the first day, so you’re calling on the first day. If they’re going to call, people call on the third day.”
― Nicci French, quote from Secret Smile


“Within families, you’re stuck with the character they think you are, whatever you do. You become a war hero and all that your parents ever talk about is something supposedly funny you used to do when you were in nursery school.”
― Nicci French, quote from Secret Smile



About the author

Nicci French
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“It’s that blasted Independent Province!” the fourth said. “It’s been chaos since they gained sovereignty. I’ve felt it in my roots since.  A war is coming.”
― Lucian Bane, quote from Seven Sons of Zion


“While the Roman Empire was overrun by waves not only of Ostrogoths, Vizigoths and even Goths, but also of Vandals (who destroyed works of art) and Huns (who destroyed everything and everybody, including Goths, Ostrogoths, Vizigoths and even Vandals), Britain was attacked by waves of Picts (and, of course, Scots) who had recently learnt how to climb the wall, and of Angles, Saxons and Jutes who, landing at Thanet, soon overran the country with fire (and, of course, the sword).”
― quote from 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England


“No, I did not tell him about the raids on gay bars; cops invading private homes to arrest men having sex, the sexual act being illegal; entrapment, lying, aroused cops, years-long prison terms, suicides, violence.”
― John Rechy, quote from After the Blue Hour


“I thought my entire life was coming apart, but I think I just realized that sometimes the thing you think is going to ruin your life is the thing that saves you.”
― Jane Green, quote from Saving Grace


“Apologize for not being mine when you should’ve been. Because Emilia, baby...” I tilted my head sideways. “It was always fucking us and you know it.”
― L.J. Shen, quote from Vicious


Interesting books

Year Zero
(10.3K)
Year Zero
by Rob Reid
Fiance by Fate
(0.9K)
Fiance by Fate
by Jennifer Shirk
The Vanishing Girl
(3.3K)
The Vanishing Girl
by Laura Thalassa
What Would Satan Do?
(521)
Diaries of Franz Kafka
(2.4K)
Diaries of Franz Kaf...
by Franz Kafka
Mean Streak
(33.7K)
Mean Streak
by Sandra Brown

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.