Quotes from The Contortionist's Handbook

“A person’s life story is equal to what they have plus what they want most in the world, minus what they’re actually willing to sacrifice for it.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“It's taken me years of practice to learn how to act natural.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“i learned that predators don't intentionally choose the weak or old or sick. they kill what they can, which means the slow members of the pack. thus, they strengthen the very gene pool they're feeding from. the threshold for what is weak, old or sick gets raised, and the strength, speed and instincts of new generations of hunters grow. a beautiful, self-perpetuating system where evolution is the antithesis of entropy.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“When you’re in love, your brain secretes endorphins into your blood. Organic morphine leaks out of a gland in your skull, feels like a low-grade opium rush. Some people confuse the two, the head rush and the love. You think you’re in love with a person, but you’re in love with a syringe.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“...what they show tells you what they want to hide.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“I love you, I said, but not out loud.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“The combination to be on guard for is young and bored, or young and resentful. You can spot them at social gatherings, the grad students or interns who tell you about syndromes, conditions, deviances, and disorders, and they love, love, love to talk. They speak in half-sentences with a knowing smile-squint, watch you falter at the pause, and then keep talking.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“If no God, there must at least be a pattern-making demiurge.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“People can numb themselves, get used to anything.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“Carisoprodol. Comes in a white tablet like a big-ass vitamin, 350 mg of muscle liquefier for those tense, recovering athletes and furniture movers. Too much, and those relaxed muscles include your diaphragm, then your heart.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“They see my fingers, they run. Dominique. Alicia. Penny.

They see my fingers, they want their hair pulled. Alex. Renee. Kristin.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“My left hand is a Rorschach blotch all its own, a six-fingered, skin-blood-and-bone ink splatter. People see it and fly their worst fears and secret fetishes at full mast when they think they’re being discreet. They see it as strange, fascinating, ugly, beautiful, disgusting or erotic depending on what’s behind their eyes.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

“A person's life story is equal to what they have plus what they want most in the world, minus what they're actually willing to sacrifice for it.”
― Craig Clevenger, quote from The Contortionist's Handbook

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Popular quotes

“Words are powerful. They too can be the agents of what is new, of what is conceivable and can be thought and let loose upon the world.”
― David Malouf, quote from Ransom

“But do not misunderstand - I turned him to stone from compassion. Stone men have stone hearts, and stone hearts cannot be wounded or broken. I would show you the same compassion, if you wish it.”
― Miyuki Miyabe, quote from Ico: Castle in the Mist

“Already in love with her, huh?” she said. I jerked my eyes away and thought about it. But there it was, that tiny heart space, already spreading out between us, my sister and me.”
― Jennifer Gooch Hummer, quote from Girl Unmoored

“Les cygnes chantent avant de mourir. Certaines personnes feraient bien de mourir avant de chanter.”
― Comte de Lautréamont, quote from Maldoror = Les Chants de Maldoror, together with a translation of Lautréamont's Poésies

“((المانترا الرئيسية)) :
...
روح واحدة ..
وراء حركة الكون ..
توازنه ..
وحدته ..
استمراريته ..
وجوده ...

انها داخلي
.. و هي هويتي الحقيقية

هي الفاعل ..
و السبب من وراء الفعل

.. تحميني في كل الأحوال
، و في أي زمان أو مكان

لا تخشى شئ
.. و لا تعرف شئ
عن الظلم أو الرعونة ..


خالدة
.. لم تلد و لم تولد

تتدفق من خلال دورات
الميلاد .. و الموت
.. تتحرك بقدرتها .. و صفائها
*****
هذا الفهم سوف يأتي لك
كنعمة حلوة
كهدية ..

.. و في كل لحظة ستمر
سيظل تذكرك له مستمر
*****
.. منذ البداية
و تلك هي الحقيقة الوحيدة

في كل زمان او مكان
تلك هي الحقيقة

و حتى الآن ..
فتلك هي الحقيقة الوحيدة

آوه ناناك :
انها الوحيدة على الإطلاق”
― Guru Nanak, quote from Sri Guru Granth Sahib

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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.