“In what language does rain fall over tormented cities?”
“With which stars do they go on speaking,the rivers that never reach the sea?”
“Tell me, is the rose naked
or is that her only dress?
Why do trees conceal
the splendor of their roots?
Who hears the regrets
of the thieving automobile?
Is there anything in the world sadder
than a train standing in the rain?”
“Donde termina el arco iris,
en tu alma o en el horizonte?
Where does the rainbow end,
in your soul or on the horizon?”
“Sufre mas el que espera siempre
que aquel que nunca espero a nadie?
Does he who is always waiting suffer more than he who’s never waited for anyone?”
“ربما ماتت خجلاً
تلك القطارات التي أضاعت طريقها؟”
“من هلّلَ لولادة
اللون الأزرق؟
لماذا تحزن الأرض
حينما يظهر البنفسج؟”
“لماذا لا يدربون المروحيات على جني العسل من الشمس ؟”
“Si todos los rios son dulces
de donde saca sal el mar?
If all rivers are sweet
where does the sea get its salt?”
“ما الزهرة التي تطير
من عصفور إلى عصفور؟”
“لماذا تنتحر الأوراق
عندما تشعر بالإصفرار؟
لماذا تحلّق قبعة الليل
ملأى بالثقوب؟”
“هل يُحدِّث الدخانُ الغيوم؟
هل صحيح أن رغباتنا
يجب أن تروى بالندى؟”
“Como se reparten el sol en el naranjo las naranjas?
How do the oranges divide up sunlight in the orange tree?”
“What will they say about my poetry
who never touched my blood?
Que diran de mi poesia
los que no tocaron mi sangre?”
“هل يقاسي
الذي ينتظر دائماً
أكثر من الذي لم يجرب الانتظار ؟”
“كم عمرُ تشرين الثاني؟
لِم يُنفِق الخريف
كلَّ هذه النقود الصفر؟
ما اسم الكوكتيل الذي
يخلط الفودكا بسهام البرق؟”
“كيف نالت الدراجة
المهجورة حريتها؟
هل ينفع الملح والسكر
في بناء برج أبيض؟
هل صحيح أنّ الأحلام
في قرية النمل واجب؟
هل تعلم ماذا تتأمّل الأرض في الخريف؟”
“وعلى من يبتسم الرز
بأسنانه البيض اللامتناهية؟
لماذا يكتبون في العصور المظلمة
بحبرٍ خفي؟
هل يعرف جمال كراكاس
كم تنورةً للوردة؟
لماذا تلسعني البراغيث
ورقباء الأدب؟”
“كم نحلةً في اليوم؟
هل السلامُ سلامَ الحَمام؟
هل يشنّ النمر حرباً؟
لماذا يُعلّم الأستاذ
جغرافية الموت؟
ماذا يحدث للسنونوات
المتأخرات عن المدرسة؟
وهل صحيح أنّها تنثر
رسائل شفافة على السماء؟”
“كيف تُفرِّق البرتقالات
أشعة الشمس على الشجرة؟”
“حُب، حبّه وحبها،
فإذا ذهبا، أين يذهب الحب؟
أمس، بالأمس سألت عيوني،
متى يرى أحدنا الآخر؟
وعندما تغيران المنظر،
فبيدين عاريتين، أم بقفازين؟”
“Sufre más el que espera siempre
Que aquel que nunca esperó a nadie?”
“Dónde van las cosas del sueño?
Se van al sueño de otros?”
“Como se acuerda con los pajaros
la traduccion de sus idiomas?
How is the translation of their languages
Arranged with the birds?”
“Hay una estrella mas abierta
que la palabra 'amapola'?
Is there a star more wide open
than the word 'poppy"?”
“Is there anything in the world sadder
than a train standing in the rain?”
“Why wasn't Christopher Columbus able to discover Spain?”
“Here is the solitude from which you are absent.
It is raining. The sea wind is hunting stray gulls.
The water walks barefoot in the wet streets. From that tree the leaves complain as though they were sick.
White bee, even when you are gone, you live in my soul. You live again in time, slender and silent.
Ah, you who are silent.”
“It was like him, too, to love her and admit to it before he knew if she loved him. Maybe only mortals expected to barter their hearts.”
“Hang there like a fruit, my soul, Till the tree die!
-Posthumus Leonatus
Act V, Scene V”
“One day might be different from another, but there ain't much difference when they're put together.
September 14, 1911: Writer and teacher William Armstrong wrote celebrated children's books including the Newbery Medal-winning Sounder, about an African American sharecropper family with a loud and loyal hound, inspired by Odysseus' dog Argus. Armstrong was born in Virginia 102 years ago today.”
“None of these adventitious mental states are the real you. You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm.”
“The mighty bosoms of Big-Boobied Bertha had killed many a Warrior in mortal combat.”
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.