Quotes from The Farm

“...Except when I was alone. I'd hate myself. It's how we feel about ourselves when we're alone that must guide our decisions.”
― Tom Rob Smith, quote from The Farm

“Let me quickly remind you that the allegation of being mentally incapable is a tried and tested method of silencing women dating back hundreds of years, a weapon to discredit us when we fought against abuses and stood up to authority.”
― Tom Rob Smith, quote from The Farm

“Standing at the point where these photographs were taken, you’re immersed in the most unbelievable quiet. It’s like being at the bottom of the sea except instead of a rusted shipwreck there’s an ancient farmhouse. Even the thoughts in my head sounded loud, and sometimes I found my heart beating hard for no reason except as a reaction against the silence.”
― Tom Rob Smith, quote from The Farm

“I’d mistaken familiarity for insight and equated hours spent together as a measure of understanding.”
― Tom Rob Smith, quote from The Farm

“cycling down the road. Her movements were erratic, almost out of control, pedaling at alarming speed as though she were being chased. As she passed the gate, I caught sight of her face. She’d been”
― Tom Rob Smith, quote from The Farm

“You crave security, Daniel. You always have. Let me tell you. There is none. A great friendship can be swept aside in an evening, a lover changed into an enemy with a single admission.”
― Tom Rob Smith, quote from The Farm

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“That's the myth of it, the required lie that allows us to render our judgments. Parasites, criminals, dope fiends, dope peddlers, whores--when we can ride past them at Fayette and Monroe, car doors locked, our field of vision cautiously restricted to the road ahead, then the long journey into darkness is underway. Pale-skinned hillbillies and hard-faced yos, toothless white trash and gold-front gangsters--when we can glide on and feel only fear, we're well on the way. And if, after a time, we can glimpse the spectacle of the corner and manage nothing beyond loathing and contempt, then we've arrived at last at that naked place where a man finally sees the sense in stretching razor wire and building barracks and directing cattle cars into the compound.

It's a reckoning of another kind, perhaps, and one that becomes a possibility only through the arrogance and certainty that so easily accompanies a well-planned and well-tended life. We know ourselves, we believe in ourselves; from what we value most, we grant ourselves the illusion that it's not chance in circumstance, that opportunity itself isn't the defining issue. We want the high ground; we want our own worth to be acknowledged. Morality, intelligence, values--we want those things measured and counted. We want it to be about Us.

Yes, if we were down there, if we were the damned of the American cities, we would not fail. We would rise above the corner. And when we tell ourselves such things, we unthinkably assume that we would be consigned to places like Fayette Street fully equipped, with all the graces and disciplines, talents and training that we now posses. Our parents would still be our parents, our teachers still our teachers, our broker still our broker. Amid the stench of so much defeat and despair, we would kick fate in the teeth and claim our deserved victory. We would escape to live the life we were supposed to live, the life we are living now. We would be saved, and as it always is in matters of salvation, we know this as a matter of perfect, pristine faith.

Why? The truth is plain:

We were not born to be niggers.”
― David Simon, quote from The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood

“He fell ass over tea Kettle”
― C.E. Murphy, quote from Urban Shaman

“A woman can always strive to be stronger in the face of painful emotions.”
― Morgan Rhodes, quote from Crystal Storm

“You do have a choice in how your life plays out. Some of you are fighting your present situation and making no more progress than someone fighting quicksand. You fight your husband, and every verbal punch you land leaves a bruise on you as well. It is time to stop struggling in strife, bitterness, frustration, and disappointment. You are about to read God’s plan for a joyful marriage. It”
― Debi Pearl, quote from Created to be His Help Meet

“عندما كنت في بداية العشرينيات أثناء دراستي علم الآثار على يديّ سير جارلز مايرز انتابني شعور بالمتعة والتعمق جعلني أتصور أنّ حياتي بدأت تواً، غير أنّ ذلك الشعور لايوازي الشعور الذي أحس به الآن على نحو مستمر.
إذ أصبح واضحاً أنّ هناك غلطة أساسية ذات علاقة وثيقة بالموجود البشري الاعتيادي، وهي غلطة سخيفة تشبه محاولة ملء حوض سباحة دون إحكام إغلاق فتحة مجراه أو قيادة سيارة مع الاحتفاظ بالكابح اليدوي مرفوعاً. أمرٌ ما يتعيّن بناؤه ليصبح عظيماً يتمّ فقدانه دقيقة فدقيقة. وما أن يتم إدراك هذا الأمر حتى تأخذ المشكلة بالاختفاء، إذ يطفح العقل بشعور فياض من الحيوية والإحكام. وبدلاً من ان تكون الحالات والمشاعر تحت رحمته نسيطر نحن عليها بالسهولة ذاتها التي نسيطر فيها على حركات أيدينا. وبالكاد يستحيل وصف هذه التجربة لشخص لم يسبق له خوض غمار هذه التجربة. إنّ الجنس البشري أصبح معتاداً على الأشياء التي تحدث له فالبشر يصابون بالبرد ويشعرون بالقنوظ يلتقطون شيئاً ثم يرمون به جانباً. كم ينتابهم الإحساس بالسأم.. ولكن ما إن أركّز اهتمامي في عقلي حتى تتوقف هذه الأشياء عن الحدوث، لأنّني الآن أسيطر عليها.”
― Colin Wilson, quote from The Mind Parasites

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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.