Quotes from The Giver

Lois Lowry ·  208 pages

Rating: (1.4M votes)


“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would not be lost with you. Memories are forever.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps, it was only an echo.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver



“Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“I liked the feeling of love,' [Jonas] confessed. He glanced nervously at the speaker on the wall, reassuring himself that no one was listening. 'I wish we still had that,' he whispered. 'Of course,' he added quickly, 'I do understand that it wouldn't work very well. And that it's much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see that it was a dangerous way to live.'

...'Still,' he said slowly, almost to himself, 'I did like the light they made. And the warmth.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver



“Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“I knew that there had been times in the past-terrible times-when people had destroyed others in haste,in fear, and had brought about their own destruction”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“Gabe?"
The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at him.
"There could be love", Jonas whispered.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“Today is declared an unscheduled holiday.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“Things could change, Gabe," Jonas went on. "Things could be different. I don't know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colors. And grandparents," he added, staring through the dimness toward the ceiling of his sleepingroom. "And everybody would have the memories."

"You know the memories," he whispered, turning toward the crib.

Garbriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun; memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes; memories of dancing barefoot on a damp lawn.

"Gabe?"

The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at him.

"There could be love," Jonas whispered.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver



“...now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow - moving water; and he knew that there was an Elsewhere from which it came, and an Elsewhere to which it was going”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“Behind him,across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. They were deeper and they did not need to be told. They were felt.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“I don't know what you mean when you say 'the whole world' or 'generations before him.'I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver



“He hunched his shoulders and tried to make himself smaller in the seat. He wanted to disappear, to fade away, not to exist.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“It's just that... without the memories it's all meaningless.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“There's much more. There's all that goes beyond – all ... that is Elsewhere – and all that goes back, and back, and back. I received all of those, when I was selected. And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver



“And here in this room, I re-experience the memories again and again it is how wisdom comes and how we shape our future.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness-and promised answers-he could, conceivably (though it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: "Do you lie?"
But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received was true.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


“- My instructors in science and technology have taught us about how the brain works. It's full of electrical impulses. It's like a computer. If you stimulate one part of the brain with an electrode, it...
- They know nothing.”
― Lois Lowry, quote from The Giver


Video

About the author

Lois Lowry
Born place: in Oahu, Hawaii, The United States
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“[I]t is not by being richer or more powerful that a man becomes better; one is a matter of fortune, the other of virtue. Nor should she deem herself other than venal who weds a rich man rather than a poor, and desires more things in her husband than himself. Assuredly, whomsoever this concupiscence leads into marriage deserves payment rather than affection.”
― Héloïse d'Argenteuil, quote from The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse


“Heresy and progress often look much alike.”
― Joe Abercrombie, quote from Half the World


“What it lacks in prostitution, it makes up for in drugs and public urination.”
― Lisa Lutz, quote from The Last Word


“I furrowed my eyebrows."Are you looking at my bosom, sir?"

The eyes snapped back up. "At such a serious moment? What do you take me for?"

"A rogue, I believe." I tried not to smile.”
― Jaclyn Dolamore, quote from Magic Under Glass


“strategy is empty without change, empty without passion, and empty without people willing to confront the void.”
― Seth Godin, quote from The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?


Interesting books

Sundays at Tiffany's
(60.6K)
Sundays at Tiffany's
by James Patterson
Doctor Sleep
(126.3K)
Doctor Sleep
by Stephen King
Virals
(33.3K)
Virals
by Kathy Reichs
Winter of the World
(97K)
Winter of the World
by Ken Follett
Silver Shadows
(45.2K)
Silver Shadows
by Richelle Mead
The Wrath and the Dawn
(77.6K)
The Wrath and the Da...
by Renee Ahdieh

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.