“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
“Need a ride?" he spoke loud enough to be heard over the engine, and Cas blinked, looking around him before looking back at Dean. "Yeah, you. You're the only one standing there.”
― quote from Twist and Shout
“The cricket was no more, but the power of love had found its way, and I was again myself and no longer a cricket, I was Arturo Bandini, and the elm tree yonder was Miss Hopkins, and I got to my knees and put my arms around the tree, kissing it for love everlasting, tearing the bark with my teeth and spitting it on the lawn.”
― John Fante, quote from The Road to Los Angeles
“I stare into the green eyes of the boy who has helped me realize that I don’t need separate lives but, rather, should find a boy who fits comfortably into them all. I run the back of my hand down the scruff on his sweet face. “I love you, Aiden.” Never in my life will I forget the way he looks in this moment. The surprise in his eyes. The emotions crossing his face. His lips forming a smile. His big hands holding my cheeks firmly in place as he looks into my eyes and says, “I love you too, Boots.”
― Jillian Dodd, quote from Get Me
“I love you … no matter what happens later, I need you to know that. I do love you.”
― Rebecca Zanetti, quote from Provoked
“He rubbed his thumb over the smoothness of her cheek, thinking she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. “You don’t think you’re worth killing for?”
Her laugh was brittle. “Hardly.”
For a moment, there was only the sound of their breathing and the wind gusting through the trees. And then he said, “I disagree.”
She stared up at him, trembling, her eyes filled with the questions she couldn’t put into words.
“I mean it,” he rasped. “I would kill for you. Easily. Without remorse. Again and again.”
― Rhyannon Byrd, quote from Deadly is the Kiss
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.