Quotes from The Debt of Tears

Cao Xueqin ·  400 pages

Rating: (423 votes)


“The mighty sturgeon has his pool; The stork upon the dam makes his habitation. Fish in scaly armour, Birds in serried plumes, find protection. In my distress I question that inscrutable expanse: O bowels of earth! O boundless sky! Will ye not hearken to my cry? Above, the twinkling Milky Way; The air cold, Slanting moonlight, The water-clock sunk past midnight. My restless heart grieves still;”
― Cao Xueqin, quote from The Debt of Tears


“No remedy but love Can make the lovesick well; Only the hand that tied the knot Can loose the tiger’s bell.”
― Cao Xueqin, quote from The Debt of Tears


“There was a peal of laughter from the girls. Then, before anyone could say a word, the line was seen to move a fraction. A bite at last! The sage yanked in for all he was worth. The rod crashed into a protruding rock and broke clean in two.”
― Cao Xueqin, quote from The Debt of Tears


“There was a peal of laughter from the girls. Then, before anyone could say a word, the line was seen to move a fraction. A bite at last! The sage yanked in for all he was worth. The rod crashed into a protruding rock and broke clean in two. The”
― Cao Xueqin, quote from The Debt of Tears


“She walked indoors, and staring once more at her orchids, thought to herself: ‘Flowers have their spring-time, a time for fresh blossoms and young leaves. I am young, but frail as the willow that dreads the first breath of autumn… If all turns out for the best, I may grow stronger yet. But if not, my fate will be like that of the fallen petals at spring’s end, driven by the rain and tossed in the wind…”
― Cao Xueqin, quote from The Debt of Tears



About the author

Cao Xueqin
Born place: Nanjing, China
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Something in her expression made Covenant feel that he came from a very poor world, where no one knew or cared about the healing of stoneware pots.”
― Stephen R. Donaldson, quote from Lord Foul's Bane


“Vishous to Qhuinn: "Listen, I gotta go. I need both hands to hold my gut as I laugh my ass off attcha. Later.”
― J.R. Ward, quote from Lover at Last


“I hope we shall get on together, you and I;
I've come to cheer you up - That's why
I'm dressed up like an aristocrat
In a fine red coat with golden stitches,
A stiff silk cape on top of that,
A long sharp dagger in my breeches,
And a cockerel's feather in my hat.
Take my advice - if I were you,
I'd get an outfit like this too;
Then you'd be well equipped to see
Just how exciting life can be.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, quote from Faust


“Next time I’ll just send the three of you e-mails. What was I thinking when I decided to have this meeting? (Acheron)
Oh, I know. That men who are a couple of thousand years old could actually behave like grownups? (Nick)
(Zarek elbowed Nick in the stomach.)
Oops. Involuntary arm spasm. (Zarek)”
― Sherrilyn Kenyon, quote from Night Embrace


“Married pixy, I told myself, forcing my eyes back to the shelf of ceramic animals. Fifty-four kids. Beautiful wife, sweet as sugar, who would kill me in my sleep while apologizing for it.”
― Kim Harrison, quote from A Fistful of Charms


Interesting books

Straight Man
(21.3K)
Straight Man
by Richard Russo
Heaven
(15.8K)
Heaven
by Alexandra Adornetto
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
(23.6K)
Why Be Happy When Yo...
by Jeanette Winterson
Adam Bede
(20.5K)
Adam Bede
by George Eliot
Night Film
(60K)
Night Film
by Marisha Pessl
Bridge of Birds
(8.6K)
Bridge of Birds
by Barry Hughart

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.