Quotes from The Ladies' Paradise

“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Crever pour crever, je préfère crever de passion que de crever d'ennui !”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Very well, sir. A woman's opinion, however humble she may be, is always worth listening to, if she's got any sense...If you put yourself in my hands, I shall certainly make a decent man of you.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“La certitude d'avoir empêche de désirer.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Never subject to the rules, believing that the correct judgement and healthy nature keep her in the honesty she lived in.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“His creation was a sort of new religion; the churches, gradually deserted by a wavering faith, were replaced by this bazaar, in the minds of the idle women of Paris. Women now came and spent their leisure time in his establishment, the shivering and anxious hours they formerly passed in churches: a necessary consumption of nervous passion, a growing struggle of the god of dress against the husband, the incessantly renewed religion of the body with the divine future of beauty.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Denise était venue à pied de la gare Saint-Lazare, où un train de Cherbourg l’avait débarquée avec ses deux frères, après une nuit passée sur la dure banquette d’un wagon de troisième classe. Elle tenait par la main Pépé, et Jean la suivait, tous les trois brisés du voyage, effarés et perdus, au milieu du vaste Paris, le nez levé sur les maisons, demandant à chaque carrefour la rue de la Michodière, dans laquelle leur oncle Baudu demeurait. Mais, comme elle débouchait enfin sur la place Gaillon, la jeune fille s’arrêta net de surprise.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Mais il avait oublié l’inventaire, il ne voyait pas son empire, ces magasins crevant de richesses. Tout avait disparu, les victoires bruyantes d’hier, la fortune colossale de demain. D’un regard désespéré, il suivait Denise, et quand elle eut passé la porte, il n’y eut plus rien, la maison devint noire.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“en lo más hondo de aquel empecinamiento, clamaba la rebelión del modesto fabricante artesano contra la invasora vulgaridad de los artículos de bazar.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Le había quedado, de los tiempos en los que soñaba con dedicarse a la literatura y se juntaba con poetas, una desesperación universal.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“no le había quedado más remedio que hacerse una confesión: aún temblaba al ver pasar a Mouret, pero ahora sabía que no era de miedo.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“Yo la quiero... Hace mucho que lo sabe. No juegue el juego cruel de fingir que no entiende... y no tema nada.”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

“¿Pero es que no ve lo que estoy sufriendo?... Que estupidez, ¿verdad? ¡Sufro como un niño!”
― Émile Zola, quote from The Ladies' Paradise

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Popular quotes

“...mementos of this world, in which the things worth being were so easily exchanged for the things worth having.”
― William Gaddis, quote from The Recognitions

“He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's.
And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair -
Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there!

And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty's gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair -
But it's useless to investigate - Mcavity's not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
'It must have been Macavity!' - but he's a mile away.
You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,
Or engaged in doing complicated long-division sums.

Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spaer:
At whatever time the deed took place - MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!
And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!”
― T.S. Eliot, quote from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

“The syndrome known as life is too diffuse to admit of palliation. For every symptom that is eased, another is made worse. The horse leech's daughter is a closed system. Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.”
― Samuel Beckett, quote from Murphy

“I’m baaaaaaaack!” Heather rushed up to Scarlet, completely unaware of Gabriel. “I came, I kissed, I conquered. No, let’s go find you a hot guy with a tasty mouth.”
― Chelsea Fine, quote from Anew

“Your love is a terrible thing," November says. "It sits heavy. It stings. It cuts."

She shrugs. "I am Casimira."

"I don't know if I can bear it."

"I would not have chosen you if you could not. You will get stronger. You will grow calluses.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, quote from Palimpsest

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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.