“Killing isn't free. It takes something out of you every time you do it. You get their life; they get a piece of your soul. It's always a trade.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“I'm a chess piece. A pawn,' she said. 'I can be sacrificed, but I cannot be captured. To be captured would be the end of the game.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“It’s human nature to tear one another apart. Be glad you come from such a successful line of killers.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“Crew up, Nailer!" Lucky Girl shouted. "You think I'm going to pull your ass up here like a damn swank?”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“Family. It was just a word…Could see its letters all strung together. But it was a symbol, too. And people thought they knew what it meant…It was a thing everyone had an opinion about—that it was all you had when you didn’t have anything else, that family was there, that blood was thicker than water, whatever. But when Nailer thought about it, most of these words and ideas just seemed like good excuses for people to behave badly and get away with it. Family wasn’t more reliable than marriages or friendships…maybe less…The blood bond was nothing. It was the people that mattered. If they covered your back, and you covered theirs, then maybe that was worth calling family.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“Her whispering lips brushed his ear.
She was praying. Soft begging words to Ganesha and the Buddha, to Kali-Mary Mercy and the Christian God...she was praying to anything at all, begging the Fates to let her walk from the shadow of death. Pleas spilled from her lips, a desperate trickle. She was broken, soon to die, but still the words slipped out in a steady whisper. Tum Karuna ke saagar Tum palankarta hail Mary full of grace Ajahn Chan Bodhisattva, release me from suffering...
He drew away. Her fingers slipped from his cheek like orchid petals falling.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“You're afraid to gamble even when you're already dead”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“She was too smart for his own good.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“We waste all our money throwing dice, trying to get close to Luck, trying to get the big win... To help us find something we can keep for ourselves.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“It was one of those things everyone had an opinion about—that it was what you had when you didn’t have anything else, that family was always there, that blood was thicker than water, whatever. But when Nailer thought about it, most of those words and ideas just seemed like good excuses for people to behave badly and think they could get away with it. Family wasn’t any more reliable than marriages or friendships or blood-sworn crew, and maybe less.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“That’s what the pig in the pen says when his brother gets knifed for dinner.” He shrugged. “You’re still in the pen. Still gonna die.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“Half-men don’t fight like people. More like hurricanes.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“Family wasn’t any more reliable than marriages or friendships or blood-sworn crew, and maybe less.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“He was going to drown, but hey, he could read.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“The blood bond was nothing. It was the people that mattered. If they covered your back, and you covered theirs, then maybe that was worth calling family. Everything else was just so much smoke and lies.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
“Blood is not destiny, no matter what others may believe.”
― Paolo Bacigalupi, quote from Ship Breaker
Paolo Bacigalupi
Born place: The United States
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“You fought in the Great War?” a journalist from The Guardian asked me in a long interview to coincide with the presentation of the prize.
“I didn’t think it was all that great.” I pointed out. “In fact, if memory serves, it was bloody awful.”
“Yes, of course,” said the journalist, laughing uncomfortably. “Only you’ve never written about it, have you?”
“Haven’t I?”
“Not explicitly, at least.” He said, his face taking on an expression of panic, as if he had suddenly realized that he might have forgotten some major work along the way.
“I suppose it depends on one’s definition of explicit,” I replied. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve written about it any number of times. On the surface, occasionally. A little buried, at other times. But it’s been there, hasn’t it? Wouldn’t you agree? Or do I delude myself?”
“No, of course not. I only meant—“
“Unless I’ve failed utterly in my work, that is. Perhaps I haven’t made my intentions clear at all. Perhaps my entire writing career has been a busted flush.”
“No, Mr. Sadler, of course not. I think you misunderstood me. It’s clear that the Great War plays a significant part in your—“
At eighty-one, one has to find one’s fun where one can.”
― John Boyne, quote from The Absolutist
“A message is not delivered until it is understood.”
― Robin Hobb, quote from The Farseer Trilogy
“Did I miss something? How are we here already?" Surely I would have noticed traveling into another dimension.”
― Claudia Lefeve, quote from Parallel
“In a way, you are poetry material; You are full of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality.”
― Franz Kafka, quote from Letters to Milena: Expanded and Revised in a New Translation
“A slave lacks incentives; for him it is better to work slowly and badly, since his effort benefits only the master, but free people work hard to save and get ahead,, that is their incentive.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Island Beneath the Sea
Metamorphosis
Women of the Silk
Killer Spirit
Hood
The Atonement Child
The Fourth Apprentic...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.
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