“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 beauty of the world…has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder.
—Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own (part 3, Pretties)”
― Scott Westerfeld, quote from Pretties
“I want to say somewhere: I've tried to be forgiving. And yet. There were times in my life, whole years, when anger got the better of me. Ugliness turned me inside out. There was a certain satisfaction in bitterness. I courted it. It was standing outside, and I invited it in.”
― Nicole Krauss, quote from The History of Love
“Assume' makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'.”
― Karen Marie Moning, quote from Darkfever
“Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them in mid-air, the fingers spread weakly open. If he reached out with his hands, and if his hands were electric wires, and if his heart were a battery giving life and fire to those hands, and if he reached out with his hands and touched other people, reached out through these stone walls and felt other hands connected with other hearts -- if he did that, would there be a reply, a shock?”
― Richard Wright, quote from Native Son
“I am not who I was,' he whispered, gripping the edges of the column, 'but I know who I am.'...
'And I won't give up.”
― Christopher Paolini, quote from Inheritance
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.