“In what language does rain fall over tormented cities?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“With which stars do they go on speaking,the rivers that never reach the sea?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“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?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Donde termina el arco iris,
en tu alma o en el horizonte?
Where does the rainbow end,
in your soul or on the horizon?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“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?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“ربما ماتت خجلاً
تلك القطارات التي أضاعت طريقها؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“من هلّلَ لولادة
اللون الأزرق؟
لماذا تحزن الأرض
حينما يظهر البنفسج؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“لماذا لا يدربون المروحيات على جني العسل من الشمس ؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Si todos los rios son dulces
de donde saca sal el mar?
If all rivers are sweet
where does the sea get its salt?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“ما الزهرة التي تطير
من عصفور إلى عصفور؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“لماذا تنتحر الأوراق
عندما تشعر بالإصفرار؟
لماذا تحلّق قبعة الليل
ملأى بالثقوب؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“هل يُحدِّث الدخانُ الغيوم؟
هل صحيح أن رغباتنا
يجب أن تروى بالندى؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Como se reparten el sol en el naranjo las naranjas?
How do the oranges divide up sunlight in the orange tree?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“What will they say about my poetry
who never touched my blood?
Que diran de mi poesia
los que no tocaron mi sangre?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“هل يقاسي
الذي ينتظر دائماً
أكثر من الذي لم يجرب الانتظار ؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“كم عمرُ تشرين الثاني؟
لِم يُنفِق الخريف
كلَّ هذه النقود الصفر؟
ما اسم الكوكتيل الذي
يخلط الفودكا بسهام البرق؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“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؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“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؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“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؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“كيف تُفرِّق البرتقالات
أشعة الشمس على الشجرة؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“حُب، حبّه وحبها،
فإذا ذهبا، أين يذهب الحب؟
أمس، بالأمس سألت عيوني،
متى يرى أحدنا الآخر؟
وعندما تغيران المنظر،
فبيدين عاريتين، أم بقفازين؟”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Sufre más el que espera siempre
Que aquel que nunca esperó a nadie?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Dónde van las cosas del sueño?
Se van al sueño de otros?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Como se acuerda con los pajaros
la traduccion de sus idiomas?
How is the translation of their languages
Arranged with the birds?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Hay una estrella mas abierta
que la palabra 'amapola'?
Is there a star more wide open
than the word 'poppy"?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Is there anything in the world sadder
than a train standing in the rain?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“Why wasn't Christopher Columbus able to discover Spain?”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“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.”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Book of Questions
“The most important part of a story is the piece of it you don't know.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from The Lacuna
“The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, he said, was sometimes a source of strength in men as well as in wood, so long as it was helmed by inner resolve and by principle.”
― Daniel James Brown, quote from The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
“A good book, he had concluded, leaves you wanting to reread the book. A great book compels you to reread your own soul. Such books were for him rare and, as he aged, rarer. Still he searched, one more Ithaca for which he was forever bound.”
― Richard Flanagan, quote from The Narrow Road to the Deep North
“She could read the patterns, knew at a glance a Melas from a Konya, a Ladik from a Sivas. She loved the Ladik.”
― Ann Patchett, quote from The Magician's Assistant
“It's safe to assume that by 2085 guns will be sold in vending machines but you won't be able to smoke anywhere in America.”
― David Sedaris, quote from When You Are Engulfed in Flames
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.