Quotes from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“It is better to be alone, she figures, than to be with someone who can't see who you are. It is better to lead than to follow. It is better to speak up than stay silent. It is better to open doors than to shut them on people.

She will not be simple and sweet. She will not be what people tell her to be. That Bunny Rabbit is dead.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“She will not be simple and sweet.
She will not be what people tell her she should be.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Secrets are more powerful when people know you've got them.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“She might, in fact, go crazy, as has happened to a lot of people who break rules. Not the people who play at rebellion but really only solidify their already dominant positions in society...but those who take some larger action that disrupts the social order. Who try to push through the doors that are usually closed to them. They do sometimes go crazy, these people, because the world is telling them not to want the things they want. It can seem saner to give up--but then one goes insane from giving up.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Frankie appreciated both the accolades and the rejections equally, because both meant she'd had an impact. She wasn't a person who needed to be liked so much as she was a person who liked to be notorious.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“...a box where she was expected to be sweet and sensitive (but not oversensitive); a box for young and pretty girls who were not as bright or powerful as their boyfriends. A box for people who were not forces to be reckoned with.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Matthew had called her harmless. Harmless. And being with him made Frankie feel squashed into a box - a box where she was expected to be sweet and sensitive (but not oversensitive); a box for young and pretty girls who were not as bright or as powerful as their boyfriends. A box for people who were not forces to be reckoned with.

Frankie wanted to be a force.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“These guys, they were so sure of their places in life--so deeply confident of their merit and their future--they didn't need any kind of front at all.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“They do sometimes go crazy, these people, because the world is telling them not to want the things they want. It can seem saner to give up-But then one goes insane from giving up.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“I think it was the institution...I was trying to master it.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“She wasn't a person who needed to be liked so much as she was a person who liked to be notorious.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“There will be all these fifty-year-old women wearing hot pants and squeezing themselves into pretzel shapes and then there will be me. Just reaching for my toes like they're China. 'Hello there! You're so far away, I can't get to you! Can you even hear me?”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“A tomato may be a fruit, but it is a singular fruit. A savory fruit. A fruit that has ambitions far beyond the ambitions of other fruits.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“She doesn't feel like crying anymore.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Secrets are more powerful when people know you've got them," said Mr. Sutton. "You show them the tiniest edge of your secret, but the rest you keep under wraps.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“although she went home that night feeling happier than she had ever been in her short life, she did not confuse the golf course party with a good party, and she did not tell herself she had a pleasant time. it had been, she felt, a dumb event preceded by excellent invitations. what frankie did that was unusual was to imagine herself in control. the drinks, the clothes, the instructions, the food (there had been none), the location, everything. she asked herself: if i were in charge, how could i have done it better?”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Someone is watching you. Or, someone is probably watching you. Or, you feel like someone’s watching you. So you follow the rules whether someone’s watching you or not.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“You have some balls."

Frankie hated that expression, ever since Zada had pointed out to her that it equates courage with the male equipment...”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“He just loved her in a limited way. Loved her best when she needed help. Loved her best when he could set the boundaries and make the rules. Loved her best when she was a smaller, younger person than he was, with no social power.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“You are my girlfriend," whispered Matthew. " You're my girl and I'm your guy, and you're my girl and I'm your guy. Let's not fight.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“She had been nobody and he had been golden.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“It’s not like I want to be friends with you now, Frankie. Don’t even talk to me, I seriously can’t deal with you.
I’m just writing to say I underestimated you. I significantly underestimated you. I don’t actually think it is possible to overestimate you. Although you are not a nice person.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Don't call me Alessandro, or this could get ugly.

Oh, then may I call you Alice?”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“...you must wear clothes, you must honor your teachers, you must not attack fellow students' dorm rooms with chain saws.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“It was part of their mission as a secret society--as it is part of the mission of most secret societies, actually--to not be entirely secret.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“I can feel like a hag some days if I want! And I can tell everybody how insecure I am if I want! Or I can be pretty and pretend to think I'm a hag out of fake modesty –- I can do that if I want, too. Because you, Livingston, are not the boss of me and what kind of girl I become.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“It is better to be alone, she figures, than to be with someone who can’t see who you are. It is better to lead than to follow. It is better to speak up than stay silent. It is better to open doors than to shut them on people.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Don't worry, said Frankie. I'm indelible.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“...Mr. Wodehouse is a prose stylist of such startling talent that Frankie nearly skipped around with glee when she first read some of his phrases. Until her discovery of Something Fresh on the top shelf of Ruth's bookshelf one bored summer morning, Frankie's leisure reading had consister primarily of paperback mysteries she found on the spinning racks at the public library down the block from her house, and the short stories of Dorothy Parker. Wodehouse's jubilant wordplay bore itself into her synapses like a worm into a fresh ear of corn.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

“Why did you do all that, Frankie?" asked Porter. "I mean, it was brilliant, what you did, what you made us do - but why would you bother? That's what I can't figure out."
Frankie sighed. "Have you ever heard of the panopticon?" she asked him.
Porter shook his head.
"Have you ever been in love?"
He shook his head again.
"Then I can't explain it," Frankie said.
They went inside and took the geometry test.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

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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.