Quotes from The Islanders

Christopher Priest ·  342 pages

Rating: (1.3K votes)


“None of it is real, though, because reality lies in a different, more evanescent realm. These are only the names of some of the places in the archipelago of dreams. The true reality is the one you perceive around you, or that which you are fortunate enough to imagine for yourself.”
― Christopher Priest, quote from The Islanders


“The dream-state of the Archipelago, which is what we islanders most respond to, and least wish to see changed, seems likely to continue without interference for a long time to come.”
― Christopher Priest, quote from The Islanders


“...an incomplete listing of anything reveals that a selection has been made, and any act of selection is of course political.”
― Christopher Priest, quote from The Islanders


“The true reality is the one you perceive around you, or that which you are fortunate enough to imagine for yourself.”
― Christopher Priest, quote from The Islanders


“Less welcome to the people of Paneron is the STIFLER, a humid wind that brings the allergenic pollen of carp-weed bushes from nearby unpopulated islands.”
― Christopher Priest, quote from The Islanders



“To aspire to life forever would be to acquire living at the expense of life.”
― Christopher Priest, quote from The Islanders


About the author

Christopher Priest
Born place: in Cheadle, England, The United Kingdom
Born date July 14, 1943
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Water splashes and runs in a film across the glass floor suspended above the mosaics. The Hacı Kadın hamam is a typical post-Union fusion of architectures; Ottoman domes and niches built over some forgotten Byzantine palace, years and decades of trash blinding, gagging, burying the angel-eyed Greek faces in the mosaic floor; century upon century. That haunted face was only exposed to the light again when the builders tore down the cheap apartment blocks and discovered a wonder. But Istanbul is wonder upon wonder, sedimented wonder, metamorphic cross-bedded wonder. You can’t plant a row of beans without turning up some saint or Sufi. At some point every country realizes it must eat its history. Romans ate Greeks, Byzantines ate Romans, Ottomans ate Byzantines, Turks ate Ottomans. The EU eats everything. Again, the splash and run as Ferid Bey scoops warm water in a bronze bowl from the marble basin and pours it over his head.”
― Ian McDonald, quote from The Dervish House


“Slowly Tegan looked up and I saw wonderment on her face. It was of the variety only ever found in those young enough to yet have minds as open as the oceans and hearts longing to have proof of magic.”
― Paula Brackston, quote from The Witch's Daughter


“When this space comes into your being, you go on giving to each and everybody—not only to human beings but to animals, to the trees, to the faraway stars, because love is something that can be transferred even to the farthest star just by your loving look. Just by your touch, love can be transferred to a tree. Without saying a single word . . . it can be conveyed in absolute silence. It need not be said, it declares itself. It has its own ways of reaching into the very depths, into your being. First be full of love, then the sharing happens.”
― Osho, quote from Love, Freedom, and Aloneness: The Koan of Relationships


“Be not simply good; be good for something.”
― Henry David Thoreau, quote from Life Without Principle


“Call me not wise unless you call all men wise. A young fruit am I, still clinging to the branch and it was only yesterday that I was a blossom. And call none among you foolish for we are neither wise nor foolish. We are green leaves upon the tree of life and surely life itself if beyond wisdom and surely beyond foolishness.”
― Kahlil Gibran, quote from The Garden of The Prophet


Interesting books

Veil of Midnight
(27.8K)
Veil of Midnight
by Lara Adrian
The School for Good and Evil
(45.1K)
The School for Good...
by Soman Chainani
Salt to the Sea
(63.9K)
Salt to the Sea
by Ruta Sepetys
Rebel Belle
(33.5K)
Rebel Belle
by Rachel Hawkins
The Wizard Heir
(36.7K)
The Wizard Heir
by Cinda Williams Chima
Until I Find You
(22.7K)
Until I Find You
by John Irving

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.