Quotes from The Bone People

“You want to know about anybody? See what books they read, and how they've been read...”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“A family can be the bane of one's existence. A family can also be most of the meaning of one's existence. I don't know whether my family is bane or meaning, but they have surely gone away and left a large hole in my heart.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“But hands are sacred things. Touch is personal, fingers of love, feelers of blind eyes, tongues of those who cannot talk…”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“Why? is the boy's motto, why does, why is, why not? Food, weather, time, fires, sea and season, clothes and cars and people; it's all grist to the mill of why.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“They were nothing more than people, by themselves. Even paired, any pairing, they would have been nothing more than people by themselves. But all together, they have become the heart and muscles and mind of something perilous and new, something strange and growing and great.
Together, all together, they are the instruments of change.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“Oh all the world is a little queer, except thee and me, and sometimes, I wonder about thee.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“Sunflowers and seashells and logarithmic spirals (said Kerewin); sweep of galaxies and the singing curve of the universe (said Kerewin); the oscilating wave thrumming in the nothingness of every atom’s heart (said Kerewin); did you think I could build a square house? So the round shell house holds them all in its spiralling embrace. Noise and riot, peace and quiet, all is music in this sphere.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“She had debated, in the frivolity of the beginning, whether to build a hole or a tower; a hole, because she was fond of hobbits, or a tower — well, a tower for many reasons, but chiefly because she liked spiral staircases.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“Sometimes, the waves grow hushed, but the sea is always there, touching, caressing, eating the earth...”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“If I were you," the operator sounds happy he's not.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“The color has faded out of the sky. It is grey, becoming darker as the world turns herself round a little more. The clouds are long and black and ragged, like the wings of stormbattered dragons.”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

“...I was trying to make her fit my idea of what a friend, a partner was. I could see only the one way...whatever she thought she was, bend her to the idea that lovers are, marriage is, the only sanity. Don't accept merely what she can offer, make her give and take more...”
― Keri Hulme, quote from The Bone People

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Popular quotes

“Who would want to be poked by some dumb girl with a stick?”
― Lauren Myracle, quote from Shine

“All through the winter months, Rose kept up the practice of sitting by the fire with Peter and a book telling him stories. The doctor stopped to listen one afternoon out of curiosity, and heard her say, “…then the Mermaid said to the Pirate, ‘I would rather perish with the boy than go with you.’ And the Pirate said, ‘So be it,’ and sealed them both up inside the treasure chest. Then the pirate’s crew got together to lift the chest up, and with a nod from their captain, they cast the chest overboard into the sea. The chest was so heavy, it sank in the water in spite of the air inside, and in seconds it was gone from view, disappearing into the deep blue depths. If the boy and the mermaid were unable to free themselves, they would surely perish.” Peter’s eyes were wide with interest. “But- I can’t tell you what happened- you’ll have to find out next time.” She stopped and closed the book. Peter shook his head and put his hand on the book. She laughed and said, “You want to hear more now, do you?”
― Christopher Daniel Mechling, quote from Peter: The Untold True Story

“He liked radical politics and had a fondness for chocolate.”
― Laura Kinsale, quote from Flowers from the Storm

“Her pelt prickling with frustration, Hollykit pushed her way through the brambles and raced back to the nursery. She had just discovered how she wanted to serve her Clan, how to make sure that what she did really mattered. She wanted to be the next ThunderClan medicine cat!”
― Erin Hunter, quote from The Sight

“Tự sâu thẳm, chàng là người tốt, và ta yêu chàng vì thế. Nhưng nếu chàng không tốt thì ta vẫn yêu chàng. Dù chàng có khiến ta đau đớn, có lợi dụng ta, ta vẫn cứ yêu chàng. Ta biết điều đó. Đó là vấn đề giới tính, ta nghĩ vậy.

Chàng khỏe mạnh và đẹp đẽ. Ta yêu chàng vì điều đó. Ta ngưỡng mộ, ta tự hào về chàng. Nhưng ta vẫn yêu chàng dù chàng không có những phẩm chất này. Nếu chàng xấu xí, ta vẫn yêu chàng. Nếu chàng tàn phế, ta vẫn yêu chàng. Ta sẽ làm việc cho chàng, sẽ cầu nguyện cho chàng, sẽ luôn ở bên chàng cho đến ngày ta chết.

Phải, ta nghĩ ta yêu chàng chỉ vì chàng là CỦA TA và chàng là GIỐNG ĐỰC. Ta tin rằng không có lý do nào khác. Và đó là điều ta nghĩ khi nói rằng: dạng tình yêu này không phải là thứ được tạo ra từ lý trí hay những con số khô khan. Nó chỉ đơn giản là ĐẾN. Không ai biết tự khi nào, và không ai giải thích được vì sao. Mà thực ra có cần chăng phải giải thích?”
― Mark Twain, quote from The Diary of Adam and Eve

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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.