Quotes from The American

“Intelligent, unscrupulous, determined, and capable of seeing a man strangled without changing color.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“The truth is that circumstances had done much to cultivate in Mrs. Tristram a marked tendency to irony. Her taste on many points differed from that of her husband, and though she made frequent concessions it must be confessed that her concessions were not always graceful. They were founded upon a vague project she had of some day doing something very positive, something a trifle passionate. What she meant to do she could by no means have told you; but meanwhile, nevertheless, she was buying a good conscience, by installments.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“One's theories, after all, matter little, it is one's humor that is the great thing.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“He himself was almost never bored, and there was no man with whom it would have been a greater mistake to suppose that silence meant displeasure.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“The church was simply the former chapel of the castle, fronting upon its grass-grown court, which, however, was of generous enough width to have given up its quaintest corner to a little graveyard. Here the very headstones themselves seemed to sleep, as they slanted into the grass.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“When you are embarrassed, do as you think best, and you will do very well. When you are in a difficulty, judge for yourself.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“You will think you take generous views of her; but you will never begin to know through what a strange sea of feeling she passed before she accepted you. As she stood there in front of you the other day, she plunged into it. She said 'Why not?' to something which, a few hours earlier, had been inconceivable. She turned about on a thousand gathered prejudices and traditions as on a pivot, and looked where she had never looked hitherto.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“He was holding his breath so as not to inhale the odor of democracy.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

“The place suggested a convent with the modern improvements—an asylum in which privacy, though unbroken, might be not quite identical with privation, and meditation, though monotonous, might be of a cheerful cast.”
― Henry James, quote from The American

About the author

Popular quotes

“The Templars lost their Christianity when they discovered banking,”
― Oliver Bowden, quote from Assassin's Creed: Renaissance

“Love is like trench warfare - you cannot see the enemy, but you know he is there and that it is wiser to keep your head down.”
― Lawrence Durrell, quote from Balthazar

“All his fears—be they of the dark, of thunderstorms, of the sea, or of the disastrous disruption of his family life—obey a compelling need. “He is a person who needs to be in control of everything,” Pérez says, “but since this is impossible, he invests all he has in controlling the one part of his life over which he has most command, Rafa the tennis player.”
― quote from Rafa

“God will never bless what He doesn’t instigate. Why? Because He will not bless what is not from Himself. So what’s the answer to this dilemma? How do we know what God wants us to do? Simple. You walk through the doors that are open. Quit banging on the ones He has closed. Ask Him to lead you and to guide you and to open up those doors you are supposed to walk through.”
― Staci Stallings, quote from Deep in the Heart

“Non ricorda più l'ultima volta che è riuscita a dormire per sei ore piene, sei ore ininterrotte senza svegliarsi da un brutto sogno o scoprire che i suoi occhi si erano aperti all'alba, e sa che questi problemi di sonno sono un brutto segno, un avviso inequivocabile del fatto che l'aspettano guai, ma malgrado quello che continua a ripeterle sua madre, non vuole tornare ai farmaci. Prendere una di quelle pillole è come inghiottire una piccola dose di morte. Quando inizi con quella roba, i tuoi giorni vengono trasformati in un regime stordente di smemoratezza e confusione, e non c'è momento in cui senti la testa imbottita di batuffoli di cotone e brandelli di carta. Ellen non vuole chiudere la sua vita per sopravvivere alla sua vita. Vuole che i suoi sensi siano svegli, formulare pensieri che non svaniscano nel mentre le si presentano, sentirsi viva in tutti i modi in cui un tempo si sentiva viva. Ora non sono in programma collassi. Non può permettersi altri cedimenti, ma malgrado gli sforzi di tenersi salda nel qui e ora, la pressione si è nuovamente accumulata in lei, ricomincia a sentire fitte del vecchio panico, il nodo nella gola, il sangue che le scorre troppo in fretta nelle vene, il cuore contratto e il polso frenetico. Paura senza oggetto, come gliel'ha descritta una volta il dottor Burnham. No, dice ora fra sé: paura di morire senza aver vissuto.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Sunset Park

Interesting books

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.