“Every man thinks his own geese swans.”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“It’s a dark night, sang the kettle, and the rotten leaves are lying by the way; and, above, all is mist and darkness, and, below, all is mire and clay; and there’s only one relief in all the sad and murky air; and I don’t know that it is one, for it’s nothing but a glare; of deep and angry crimson, where the sun and wind together; set a brand upon the clouds for being guilty of such weather; and the widest open country is a long dull streak of black; and there’s hoar–frost on the finger–post, and thaw upon the track; and the ice it isn’t water, and the water isn’t free; and you couldn’t say that anything is what it ought to be; but he’s coming, coming, coming!—”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“Caleb was no sorcerer, but in the only magic art that still remains to us, the magic of devoted, deathless love, Nature had been the mistress of his study; and from her teaching, all the wonder came.”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“Boxer, feeling that his attentions were due to the family in general, and must be impartially distributed, dashed in and out with bewildering inconstancy; now, describing a circle of short barks round the horse, where he was being rubbed down at the stable-door; now feigning to make savage rushes at his mistress, and facetiously bringing himself to sudden stops; now, eliciting a shriek from Tilly Slowboy, in the low nursing-chair near the fire, by the unexpected application of his moist nose to her countenance; now, exhibiting an obtrusive interest in the baby; now, going round and round upon the hearth, and lying down as if he had established himself for the night; now, getting up again, and taking that nothing of a fag-end of a tail of his, out into the weather, as if he had just remembered an appointment, and was off, at a round trot, to keep it.”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“The bird that can sing and won't sing, must be made to sing, they say,' grumbled Tackleton.”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“Gruff and Tackleton was also there, doing the agreeable; with the evident sensation of being as perfectly at home, and as unquestionably in his own element, as a fresh young salmon on the top of the Great Pyramid.”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“various marvels concerning parrots, and mines, and Mexicans,”
― Charles Dickens, quote from The Cricket on the Hearth
“الفقر والجوع والمرض .. هذا ما يربحه الناس من عملهم . كل شيء يقف ضدنا ، ويوما بعد يوم نغرق في العمل طوال حياتنا ، نغرق في الوحل والخديعة ، في حين يتخم الآخروة .. ويتمتعون على حساب شقائنا وبؤسنا، ويسبقوننا كالكلاب في قبضة القيد والجهالة ، لأننا لا نعرف شيئا ، ويسبقوننا في قبضة الرعب لأننا نرهب كل شيء .. ان حياتنا هي الليل ... ولعمري إنه لليل حالك الظلمة”
― Maxim Gorky, quote from Mother
“Had I known you were going to pull a pretty ribbon out of your sleeve like some two-bit magician, tie me up with it, and indulge your mental torture fetish in your basement, I would've shot you. Many times."
"Two-bit magician?"
"Men like you enjoy being flattered.”
― Ilona Andrews, quote from Burn for Me
“Life’s random,” he said. “The best you can do is pick up the pieces.”
― Kate Atkinson, quote from When Will There Be Good News?
“And I dreamed down at the clouds, and thought that when I was a kid I had dreamed up at them, and having dreamed at the clouds from both sides as no other generation of men has done, one should be able to accept his death very easily.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Henderson the Rain King
“The small talk that sprang readily to their lips came to hers only with a tremendous effort. After an opportunity had come and gone, she often scolded herself for not saying this or doing that, for laughing too loud or smiling too little. Whenever she tried to re-create the moment of contact, she was easily rebuffed by the slightest gesture, withdrawing all too quickly if she thought she was in the way. The old stone-and-brick schoolhouse, with its four gabled roofs and round little windows, was the only thing that seemed steadfast to her, while the beings that populated its rooms and thundered down its corridors were unreal and unpredictable. It gripped her like a monstrous truth that she was condemned to lead life without belonging or feeling close to anyone.”
― Erick Setiawan, quote from Of Bees and Mist
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.