“One time when we were in Płaszów a guard struck my mother on the side of her head with a wood plank. The blow permanently shattered her eardrum. She said that for the rest of her life she could hear her two murdered sons calling to her in that ear.”
― quote from The Boy on the Wooden Box
“- No puedes sentarte ahí -dijo-. Los asientos traseros son para los negros. Tienes que cambiarte a la parte delantera.
Sus palabras me golpearon como una bofetada. De repente retrocedí en el tiempo hasta Cracovia, cuando los nazis ordenaron que los judíos nos sentáramos en los asientos traseros de los tranvías (antes de prohibirnos directamente viajar en transporte público). El contexto era muy diferente, pero de todos modos casi hizo explotar mi cabeza. ¿Por qué existía algo así en los Estados Unidos? Yo habría creído, erróneamente, que esa clase de discriminación estaba destinada únicamente a los judíos durante el régimen nazi. Ahora descubriría que la inequidad y el prejuicio existía también en ese país que yo habría aprendido a amar”
― quote from The Boy on the Wooden Box
“(...) que tenía una inscripción del talmund en hebreo 'Aquel que salva una vida, salva al mundo entero'.”
― quote from The Boy on the Wooden Box
“As a Jewish kid during those times, I fought to live every day. I didn't have a choice. As an influential Nazi, Schindler did have a choice. Countless times he could have abandoned us, taken his fortune, and fled. He could have decided that his life depended on working us to death but he didn't. Instead, he put his own life in danger every time he protected us for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. I am not a philosopher, but I believe that Oskar Schindler defines heroism. He proves that one person can stand up to evil and make a difference. I am living proof of that. I recall a television interview I once saw with scholar and writer Joseph Campbell. I've never forgotten his definition of a hero. Campbell said that a hero is an ordinary human being who does "the best of things in the worst of times". Oskar Schindler personifies that definition.”
― quote from The Boy on the Wooden Box
“Yo, un chico judío, tenia que luchar para vivir todos los días en aquellos tiempos. No tenia otra opción. Él, un nazi con mucho poder, sí tenía opciones. Pudo habernos abandonado incontables veces, pudo haber huido llevándose su fortuna. Pudo haber decidido que su vida dependía de hacernos trabajar hasta morir, pero no lo hizo. En cambio, puso su propia vida en peligro cada vez que nos protegía, sin otra razón que porque era lo correcto. No soy un filósofo, pero creo que Oskar Schindler es la definición del heroísmo, Demostró que una persona puede hacer frente al mal y hacer la diferencia.”
― quote from The Boy on the Wooden Box
“Nunca olvidé su definición de héroe. Campbell dijo que un héroe es 'un ser humano común y corriente que hace lo mejor en las peores circunstancias'.”
― quote from The Boy on the Wooden Box
“La distance est un vain mot, la distance n'existe pas!”
― Jules Verne, quote from From the Earth to the Moon
“Oh, who was she kidding? She wasn’t fucking lucky. But hope sprang eternal, for whatever stupid reason.”
― Stacia Kane, quote from City of Ghosts
“I sink you, that I will not be sunk by you.”
― Stacia Kane, quote from Unholy Magic
“The problem with the designs of most engineers is that they are too logical. We have to accept human behavior the way it is, not the way we would wish it to be.”
― Donald A. Norman, quote from The Design of Everyday Things
“She had something Adam didn't. Curiosity. First step to growth -- and if it wasn't for Eve's Adam would still be sitting by the side of the pool picking his nose and scratching his scalp, bamboozled by his own reflection. Off in her part of Eden, Eve hadn't bothered naming the animals. On the other hand she'd discovered how to milk some of them and how best to eat the eggs of others. She'd decided she wasn't overly keen on torrential rain and had built a shelter from bamboo and banana leaves, into which she'd retire when the heavens opened, having set out coconut shells to catch the rainwater with a view to saving herself the schlep down to the spring every time she wanted a drink. The only thing you won't be surprised to hear about is that she'd already domesticated a cat and called it Misty.”
― Glen Duncan, quote from I, Lucifer
On the Other Side
A Long Way Gone
The Girl In Between
Factory Girls: From...
18 Things
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.
