Quotes from The Dance in the Dark

Sophie Cleverly ·  352 pages

Rating: (459 votes)


“Ivy... I am utterly bored... For goodness' sake, let something interesting be announced this assembly." - Scarlet
"Like what?" - Ivy
"Perhaps an untimely death." - Nadia”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


“I think it's important that everyone knows how different things are these days." - Mrs Knight
"You mean now that headteachers aren't trying to murder us anymore?" - Scarlet”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


“It's fishy," Ivy said.
"More than fishy. It's like a whole shark." - Scarlet”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


“Oh for goodness' sake," my twin snapped. "I have better things to do with my time than concoct elaborate schemes to insult Penny. I'll just insult her to her face, thank you very much.”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


“You're my twin. You have to be up there with me. You remember the deal, don't you?" - Scarlet
"We'll go to America and we'll be famous, because we're twins." - Ivy”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark



“Do I need to remind Mummy of the petunias? - Ariadne, to her father”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


“It's an honour to meet you, Aunt Sara."
...
"Now," she said, "I must tell you the truth about your mother... She named you Scarlet and Ivy... like we were Sara and Ida. S and I together once more. She never forgot me.”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


“And then she quietly said, “I pushed her off the stage. I was the one who broke Miss Finch’s leg.”
― Sophie Cleverly, quote from The Dance in the Dark


About the author

Sophie Cleverly
Born place: in Bath, The United Kingdom
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“There's something uncomfortable about looking at pictures of your parents at a time when they made each other happy.”
― Aminatta Forna, quote from The Hired Man


“But words are more powerful than anything.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, quote from A Gathering Light


“They dream of the happiness of stretching out one's legs and of the relief one feels after going to the toilet. In Orotukan the earth thaws only in the summer and only to the depth of three feet—and only then can they bury the bones of those who died during the winter. And you have the right to arrange your own life under the blue sky and the hot sun, to get a drink of water, to stretch, to travel wherever you like without a convoy [escort]. So what's this about unwiped feet? And what's this about a mother-in-law? What about the main thing in life, all its riddles? If you want, I'll spell it out for you right now. Do not pursue what is illusory—property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life—don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is, after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes see, if both ears hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart—and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well. Do not hurt them or scold them, and never part from any of them in anger; after all, you simply do not know: it may be your last act before your arrest, and that will be how you are imprinted in their memory!”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, quote from The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Volume 1


“She smiled at him, the way she always did, even when he woke up at oh-what-the-fuck-hundred.”
― Suzanne Brockmann, quote from All Through the Night


“Nature has endowed each of us with a capacity for kindly feelings: let us not squander them on others.”
― Marquis de Sade, quote from Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings


Interesting books

Because of Mr. Terupt
(24.9K)
Burn for Burn
(21.7K)
Burn for Burn
by Jenny Han
Somewhere In Time
(6K)
Somewhere In Time
by Richard Matheson
Predestined
(34.9K)
Predestined
by Abbi Glines
Okay for Now
(27K)
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
A Beautiful Mind
(108.8K)
A Beautiful Mind
by Sylvia Nasar

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.