“She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Why it's simply impassible!
Alice: Why, don't you mean impossible?
Door: No, I do mean impassible. (chuckles) Nothing's impossible!”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"
Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir,' said Alice, 'Because I'm not myself you see.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“The time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“And how do you know that you're mad? "To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?" I suppose so, said Alice. "Well then," the Cat went on, "you see a dog growls when it's angry, and wags it's tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Where should I go?" -Alice. "That depends on where you want to end up." - The Cheshire Cat.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Tut, tut, child!" said the Duchess. "Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' says the White Queen to Alice.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning,” said Alice a little timidly; “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“You're not the same as you were before," he said. You were much more... muchier... you've lost your muchness.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Take care of the sense and the sounds will take care of themselves.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“And how many hours a day did you do lessons?' said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
Ten hours the first day,' said the Mock Turtle: 'nine the next, and so on.'
What a curious plan!' exclaimed Alice.
That's the reason they're called lessons,' the Gryphon remarked: 'because they lessen from day to day.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. 'Come, it's pleased so far,' thought Alice, and she went on. 'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where—' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'—so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“She who saves a single soul, saves the universe.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Do you suppose she's a wildflower?”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“Come back!" the Caterpillar called after her. "I've something important to say."
This sounded promising, certainly. Alice turned and came back again.
"Keep your temper," said the Caterpillar.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“She tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from The Annotated Alice
“What is odd is not that so many of the iconic news photos of the past, including some of the best-remembered pictures from the Second World War, appear to have been staged. It is that we are surprised to learn they were staged and always disappointed.”
― Susan Sontag, quote from Regarding the Pain of Others
“We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within.”
― Stephen Jay Gould, quote from The Mismeasure of Man
“Hybrid of all the tarnished fugitives of America. From a tiny improvised stage a mustached round man announces: “The Amateur Talent Show!” … First prize: Five Magic Dollars! It can buy much magic wine. … A woman who looks like Mrs Haversham of Great Expectations sits woodenly like an elaborate stuffed bird with open eyes. On the stage a gravel-voiced man tries to sing: “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.” A tramp nods, agreeing. A skinny old woman sits at the bar, sticking out her tongue at the world. A drunk man shoves a woman through a door with a sign that says PRIVATE KEEP OUT. She doesnt come out.”
― John Rechy, quote from City of Night
“No one thought up being. He who thinks he has, step forward.”
― Jim Morrison, quote from Wilderness: The Lost Writings, Vol. 1
“You should teach that a soft answer turns away wrath.”
― quote from Shepherding a Child's Heart
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.