Quotes from Soul Music

“In theory it was, around now, Literature. Susan hated Literature. She'd much prefer to read a good book.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“It was sad music. But it waved its sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could, but you were still alive.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“She got on with her education. In her opinion, school kept on trying to interfere with it.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Death strode away, stopped, and came back. He pointed a skeletal finger at The Duck Man.
WHY, he said, ARE YOU WALKING AROUND WITH THAT DUCK?
"What duck?"
AH. SORRY.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“We're on a mission from Glod.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“But this didn't feel like magic. It felt a lot older than that. It felt like music.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“TO CHANGE THE FATE OF ONE INDIVIDUAL IS TO CHANGE THE WORLD.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Sometimes the only thing you could do for people was to be there.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“The universe danced towards life. Life was a remarkably common commodity. Anything sufficiently complicated seemed to get cut in for some, in the same way that anything massive enough got a generous helping of gravity. The universe had a definite tendency towards awareness. This suggested a certain subtle cruelty woven into the very fabric of space-time.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Most horses don't walk backwards voluntarily, because what they can't see doesn't exist.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“I MAY HAVE ALLOWED MYSELF SOME FLICKER OF EMOTION IN THE RECENT PAST, said Death, BUT I CAN GIVE IT UP ANY TIME I LIKE.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“The hippo of recollection stirred in the muddy waters of the mind.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Or -- and this she knew was a far more accurate way of looking at it -- the book was true and reality was lying.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“There are millions of chords. There are millions of numbers. And everyone forgets the one that is a zero. But without the zero, numbers are just arithmetic. Without the empty chord, music is just noise.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“The fastest way to travel is to be there already.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“It was raining in the small, mountainous country of Llamedos. It was always raining in Llamedos. Rain was the country's main export. It had rain mines.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“In my experience, what every true artist wants, really wants, is to be paid.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“It is said that whomsoever the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. In fact, whomsoever the gods wish to destroy, they first hand the equivalent of a stick with a fizzing fuse and Acme Dynamite Company written on the side. It's more interesting, and doesn't take so long.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“The universe was bad enough without people poking it.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“There are the people of the day, and the creatures of the night. And it's important to remember that the creatures of the night aren't simply the people of the day staying up late because they think that makes them cool and interesting. It takes more than heavy mascara and a pale complexion to cross the divide.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Words have always had the power to change the world.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Susan hated Literature. She'd much prefer to read a good book.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“The Captain of the Watch says if you're still in the City by sunrise he will personally have you buried alive.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“She had a tall bearing and a tall voice and a tall manner, and was tall in every respect except height. Amazingly, she'd apparently been able to keep this a secret from people.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Certain things have to happen before other things. Gods play games with the fates of men. But first they have to get all the pieces on the board, and look all over the place for the dice.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“You see the lighted windows and what you want to think is that there may be many interesting stories behind them, but what you know is that really there are just dull, dull souls, mere consumers of food, who think their instincts are emotions and their tiny lives of more account than a whisper of wind.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“Bee there Orr Bee A Rectangular Thyng”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“The Library didn’t only contain magical books, the ones which are chained to their shelves and are very dangerous. It also contained perfectly ordinary books, printed on commonplace paper in mundane ink. It would be a mistake to think that they weren’t also dangerous, just because reading them didn’t make fireworks go off in the sky. Reading them sometimes did the more dangerous trick of making fireworks go off in the privacy of the reader’s brain.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

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Popular quotes

“In her world, the law was upside down. People had to break the law to live. The prohibition on drug-dealing, a serious crime in most countries, is not viewed in the same way – as protective of society – by North Koreans. It is viewed as a risk, like unauthorized parking. If you can get away with it, where’s the harm?”
― Hyeonseo Lee, quote from The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story

“I don't have the right word for how she looks, but even now, with parts of her face swollen and discolored, there's something striking about her, something I haven't seen before.
In that moment I'm able to accept the inevitability of how I feel, though not with joy. I need to talk to someone. I need to trust someone. And for whatever reason, I know, I know it's her.
I'll have to start by telling her my name.”
― Veronica Roth, quote from Four: A Divergent Collection

“She surrounded herself with books at work and at home. Her living space was a testament to her first and abiding love with shelves jammed with books tables crowded with them. She saw them not only as knowledge entertainment comfort even sanity but as a kind of artful decoration. ”
― Nora Roberts, quote from Key of Knowledge

“THE FOLLOWING DAY, Wednesday, Hendricks telephoned acceptance, and on Friday afternoon Roosevelt joyfully released news of the nomination to the press. Privately, to his old Assembly colleague Henry L. Sprague, he wrote: “I have always been fond of the West African proverb: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.’ ”28”
― Edmund Morris, quote from The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

“Anyone who wants to help me doesn't. Anyone who wants to kill me might. Anyone who wants to love me better not.”
― Henry Rollins, quote from Eye Scream

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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.