“To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess, especially those who have required comfort themselves in the past and have managed to find it in others. ”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Kissed mouth don’t lose its fortune, on the contrary it renews itself just as the moon does.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“La giovane, che non era di ferro né di diamante, assai agevolmente si piegò ai piaceri dello abate.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“No-thing less splendid than a golden sepulchre would have suited so noble a heart.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Umana cosa è l'aver compassione agli afflitti; e come che a ciascuna persona stea bene, a coloro è massimamente richiesto li quali già hanno di conforto avuto mestiere, e hannol trovato in alcuni: fra' quali, se alcuno mai n'ebbe bisogno, o gli fu caro, o già ne ricevette piacere, io son uno di quegli.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“The scholar, as wise as he was full of wrath, knowing that threats only serve as weapons to the person so threatened, kept all his resentment within his own breast [...]”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Mejor estaría con diablos: de siete veces seis no saben lo que ellas mismas quieren.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Ir taisnība (lai arī kāds tam būtu iemesls, vai nu mūsu tikumu izviršana, vai sevišķa nelabvēlība, ar kādu uz mūsu gadsimtu raugās debesis), ka šodien ir palicis pavisam maz vai nav nemaz tādu sieviešu, kas īstajā brīdī prastu kaut ko pateikt vai spētu saprast, kā nākas, ja viņām ko saka, un tas ir liels kauns mums visām.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“So long she held on in this mourning manner, that, what by the
continuall watering of the Basile, and putrifaction of the head, so
buried in the pot of earth; it grew very flourishing, and most
odorifferous to such as scented it, that as no other Basile could
possibly yeeld so sweete a savour.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Alack!’ rejoined the other, ‘what is this thou sayest? Knowest thou not that we have promised our virginity to God?’ ‘Oh, as for that,’ answered the first, ‘how many things are promised Him all day long, whereof not one is fulfilled unto Him! An we have promised it Him, let Him find Himself another or others to perform it to Him.’ ‘Or if,’ went on her fellow, ‘we should prove with child, how would it go then?’ Quoth the other, ‘Thou beginnest to take thought unto ill ere it cometh; when that betideth, then will we look to it; there will be a thousand ways for us of doing so that it shall never be known, provided we ourselves tell it not.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Let this grisly beginning be none other to you than is to wayfarers a rugged and steep mountain.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Fiammetta, whose wavy tresses fell in a flood of gold over her white and delicate shoulders”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“<...> в Берлинцоне, в стране басков, в области, называемой Живи-лакомо, где виноградные лозы подвязывают сосисками, гусь идет за копейку, да еще с гусенком впридачу; есть там гора вся из тертого пармезана, на которой живут люди и ничем другим не занимаются, как только готовят макароны и клецки, варят их в отваре из каплунов и бросают вниз; кто больше поймает, у того больше и бывает; а поблизости течет поток из Верначчьо, лучшего вина еще никто не пивал, и нет в нем ни капли воды.("Декамерон", Дж. Бокаччо)”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Oni su se udruživali i, izdvojeni od ostalih, živeli povučenim i usamljenim životom, koga su uredili s najvećom pažnjom... Mučno je sećati se kako je građanin izbegavao građanina, kako se među susedima jedva ko nalazio da prema drugome pokaže saosećanje, i kako se razdvojeni srodnici nikad ne sretahu. Ucveljenost je tako duboko prodrla u ljudske duše da je u tom užasu brat napuštao brata, a žena muža, dok očevi i majke, kao da su stranci, nezbrinutom ostavljahu decu njihovoj sudbini... Na vrhuncu zlopaćenja i ispaštanja našeg grada, ranjivi autoritet ljudskog i božanskog zakona beše zloupotrebljavan i gotovo se sasvim raspao, jer oni koji su trebali da ga primenjuju i sami behu mrtvi ili bolesni. Stoga je svaki čovek bio slobodan da čini što je u sopstvenim očima nalazio da je pravo...”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“la gratitud, según lo creo, es entre las demás virtudes sumamente de alabar y su contraria de maldecir,”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“I have lost my pains, which meseemed I had right well bestowed, thinking to have converted this man; for that, an he go to the court of Rome and see the lewd and wicked life of the clergy, not only will he never become a Christian, but, were he already a Christian, he would infallibly turn Jew again.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, quote from The Decameron
“Hadrian turned to look out at the lake. “I hear they have good fishing.”
Royce lifted his head to look at him. “You’re a very odd man.”
“You were the one talking about evil geese .”
― Michael J. Sullivan, quote from The Crown Tower
“On most of the occasions when I visited the Ufford, halls and reception rooms were so utterly deserted that the interior might almost have been Uncle Giles's private residence. Had he been a rich bachelor, instead of a poor one, he would probably have lived in a house of just that sort: bare: anonymous: old-fashioned: draughty: with heavy mahogany cabinets and sideboards spaced out at intervals in passages and on landings; nothing that could possibly commit him to any specific opinion, beyond general disapproval of the way the world was run.”
― Anthony Powell, quote from A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement
“A steady love, a faithful love, a wife’s love is the best.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Boleyn Inheritance
“The Germans have eaten the Gypsies of Poland for breakfast, child, and then they ate the Jews for lunch, but soon it will be supper."
"What will they eat then?"
"All the rest of the Poles.”
― Louise Murphy, quote from The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
“No one can ever love us quite so much as we love ourselves.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Julian
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.