“Pensate all'immagine che da una lastra fotografica si trasferisce sulla carta, diventando sempre più scura, da bianca all'oro più pallido, da ambra a seppia. Immaginate la luna mentre gira lentamente il profilo sottile fino a diventare piena, trascinando con sè le maree. Immaginate la crisalide quando schiude la bara dura della larva e mostra le ali al sole. L'insetto perfetto piange il bruco che un tempo è stato? E se ne ricorda?”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister
“Mi aspettavo che la solita ondata di ripugnanza per me stesso mi assalisse da un momento all'altro: tutta la mia libidine era spenta e non mi trastullavo mai con le puttane dopo averle usate... capitava di rado che volessi rivederle di nuovo. Ma questa era diversa. Per la prima volta in vita mia, provavo tenerezza per una donna, per questa ragazza, qualcosa che non avevo provato neppure con Effie. Soprattutto non con Effie. Qualcosa dentro di me voleva assaggiarla, conoscerla: come se l'atto in sé che avevamo compiuto non fosse stato nulla... niente era stato rivelato, niente si era guastato. Mi resi conto con improvvisa, esilarante chiarezza che questo era il Mistero.
Questa ragazza, questa tenerezza.
[...]
Le toccai il collo, il braccio, la curva tesa della coscia.
"Marta..."
[...]
"Marta."
"Si?"
"Ti amo."
Nel buio, il suo bacio fu dolce.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister
“L'amore è l'unica costante in questo difficile mondo razionale, l'amore e la sua metà oscura, l'odio.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister
“Non permettete a nessuno di dirvi che la vendetta non è dolce: lo è. Lo so.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister
“Era quel nome... Marta.
Il suo nome era un sospiro, una preghiera, una supplica: sulle labbra di Fanny un bacio, su quelle di Henry un gemito, su quelle di Effie una benedizione di tale potenza che il suo intero essere era soffuso di amore e di desiderio... Marta.
Dopo mezzanotte lei percorreva il corridoio poco illuminato della casa di Crook Street. Quando passava sentivo sulla nuca il suo tocco leggero, ironico. Coglievo il suo profumo sulle tende, udivo il tono piacevolmente roco, la voce con la lieve inflessione dalla finestra aperta, mentre rideva dall'umida nebbia di Londra. La sognavo così come l'avevo vista la prima volta dalla fessura nel muro, un rosa ardente di carne cremisi, una Furia con i capelli in fiamme, che rideva attraverso il fuoco come una pazza o una dea...”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister
“Dear Anyone: This is a letter from one anyone to another anyone, no names required, because nobody really knows anyway. Names don't make a hell of a lot of difference. The world is made up entirely of strangers. Millions and millions of them. Everyone is a stranger to everyone else. Sometimes we think we know other people, especially those we supposedly are close to, but if we really knew them, why are we so often surprised by the shit they do? Like, parents are always surprised by what their kids will do. They raise them from the time they are babies, spend each and every day with them, think they're these goddamn fucking angels, and then one day the cops come to the door and say hey, guess what parents? Your kid just bashed some other kid's head in with a baseball bat. Or you're the kid, and you think things are pretty fucking OK, and then one day this guy who's supposed to be your dad says so long, have a nice life. And you think, what the fuck is this? So years later, your mom ends up living with another guy, and he seems OK, but you think, when's it coming? That's what life is. Life is always asking yourself, when's it coming? Because if it hasn't come for a long time, you know you're fucking due. All the best, Anyone.”
― Linwood Barclay, quote from No Time for Goodbye
“If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Herzog
“I'm not staring. I'm observing. . . . And what do you observe? . . . A brave young woman who has always fought for what was right, even when it was unpopular.”
― Michelle Moran, quote from Cleopatra's Daughter
“Listen to me. I know something else. It will begin again. 200,000 dead and 80,000 wounded in nine seconds. Those are the official figures. It will begin again. It will be 10,000 degrees on the earth. Ten thousand suns, people will say. The asphalt will burn. Chaos will prevail. An entire city will be lifted off the ground, and fall back to earth in ashes…I meet you. I remember you. Who are you? You’re destroying me. You’re good for me. How could I know this city was tailor-made for love? How could I know you fit my body like a glove? I like you. How unlikely. I like you. How slow all of a sudden. How sweet. You cannot know. You’re destroying me. You’re good for me. You’re destroying me. You’re good for me. I have time. Please, devour me. Deform me to the point of ugliness. Why not you?”
― Marguerite Duras, quote from Hiroshima Mon Amour
“No matter what system you live under, there is no escaping the law that it's always the strongest, the cruellest, the least generous who win.”
― Oriana Fallaci, quote from Letter to a Child Never Born
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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