Quotes from Tai-Pan

“If you're a sailor, best not know how to swim. Swimming only prolongs the inevitable—if the sea wants you and your time has come.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“I'm saying that some men are saints. Some are happy being meek and humble and unambitious. Some men are born content to be second-best.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Gods are like people. They believe anything if you tell them right way.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“I'll thank you to remember that not so many years ago men were burned at the stake just for saying the earth went round the sun!”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“If you smile when you lose, then you win in life.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“So easy now that Elder Sister has explained to her what all young girls in houses are taught—that with care and meticulous acting and tears of pretended pain and fear, and the final modest telltale stains cautiously placed, a girl can, if necessary, be virgin ten times for ten different men.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“all the people have a right to vote, and no single man ever controls the destiny of any nation, either by divine right or by right of stupid votes of a stupid electorate.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Godrot opium, he thought. But he knew that his life was inexorably tied to opium—and that without it neither The Noble House nor the British Empire could exist.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“You live by the lash and you'll die by it.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Let's compete freely. Goddam tariffs! Free trade and free seas—that's what's right!”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Если ты улыбаешься, проигрывая, тогда ты выиграешь в жизни.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Without trade the world will become what it was once—a hell where only the strongest arm and the heaviest lash was law. The meek will never inherit the earth. Aye, but at least they can be protected by law to live out their lives as they wish.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Only a real man has the right to stand at the pinnacle.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“„Слава богу, че вече не съм толкова млад — помисли състрадателно Струан. — Сега знам, че любовта е като морето — понякога спокойна, а понякога бурна. Опасна е, красива, смъртоносна, животворна. Но никога постоянна, а променлива. И уникална само за един кратък миг в очите на времето.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“Fallibility in a leader is very trying. Isn’t it? They spill so much of other people’s blood.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“love is like the sea, sometimes calm and sometimes stormy; it’s dangerous, beautiful, death-dealing, life-giving. But never permanent, everchanging.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“There can only be one Tai-Pan.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“The Scots knew that the burning of a cross was a summons to the clan, and to all the kinsmen of all kindred clans: a summons to rally to the cross for battle. And the burning cross was raised only by the chief of the clan. By ancient law, once raised, the burning cross committed the clan to defend the land unto the end of the clan.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“The time be gone forever when the like of me’s to suck thy arse ’cause of a poxy title which like as not were gifted first to a king’s whore, a king’s bastard, or buyed by knife in a king’s back.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

“only the emperor among three hundred millions is allowed to use vermilion ink. Imagine that. If Queen Victoria said, ‘From now on, only I am allowed to use vermilion,’ as much as we love her, forty thousand Britons would instantly forswear all ink but vermilion. I would mysel’.”
― James Clavell, quote from Tai-Pan

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Popular quotes

“Are you also a professional soldier?
He grinned. “I’m more of a gentleman of adventure.”
George laughed under his breath.
“I save these two from themselves,” Gaston continued. “Occasionally I do a bit of skullduggery.”
What? “Skullduggery?”
“Scale a ten-foot wall, jump out of the shadows, break a diplomat’s neck, plant false documents on his body, and prevent an international incident type of thing to keep the war from breaking out,” Gaston said helpfully. “Dreadful stuff, but quite necessary.”
― Ilona Andrews, quote from Sweep in Peace

“The game’s rules were Byzantine, and we had to work them out through trial and error. One rule, which had only gradually become apparent, was that one could only move into another character’s head if the move did not involve too big a jump in social status. A peasant could not swap into the head of a king, even if the king knelt down to kiss the peasant. But the peasant could get there by jumping into the head of a blacksmith, and then an armourer, and then an officer in the king’s guard, and so on - working their way up by discrete steps. Sometimes it would not be possible to change character between one session and the next, but that was all part of the game’s richly involving texture. It was difficult and slow, but because at each step one had access to the memories and personality of the inhabited character, it was seldom boring.”
― Alastair Reynolds, quote from House of Suns

“Mandalorians are surprisingly unconcerned with biological lineage. Their definition of offspring or parent is more by relationship than birth: adoption is extremely common, and it’s not unusual for soldiers to take war orphans as their sons or daughters if they impress them with their aggression and tenacity. They also seem tolerant of marital infidelity during long separations, as long as any child resulting from it is raised by them. Mandalorians define themselves by culture and behavior alone. It is an affinity with key expressions of this culture—loyalty, strong self-identity, emphasis on physical endurance and discipline—that causes some ethnic groups such as those of Concord Dawn in particular to gravitate toward Mandalorian communities, thereby reinforcing a common set of genes derived from a wide range of populations. The instinct to be a protective parent is especially dominant. They have accidentally bred a family-oriented warrior population, and continue to reinforce it by absorbing like-minded individuals and groups.”
― Karen Traviss, quote from Triple Zero

“You know, most of this feminism business was nothing more than white American women telling non-white women what to do and how to do it, with this patronizing if-you-become-just-like-me-you’ll-be-free bullshit,”
― Marlon James, quote from A Brief History of Seven Killings

“Fools believe silence is a void needing to be filled; the wise understand there's no such thing as silence.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, quote from Age of Myth

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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.