“if I want a crown I must go and hunt it for myself.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“I have been fellow to a beggar again and again under circumstances which prevented either of us finding out whether the other was worthy.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“The wheel of the world swings through the same phases again and again.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“Englishmen are not usually softened by appeals to the memory of their mothers.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“Brother to a Prince and fellow to a beggar if he be found worthy.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“The Law, as quoted, lays down a fair conduct of life, and one not easy to follow.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“The country isn’t half worked out because they that governs it won’t let you touch it. They spend all their blessed time in governing it, and you can’t lift a spade, nor chip a rock, nor look for oil, nor anything like that without all the Government saying — ‘Leave it alone and let us govern.’ Therefore, such as it is, we will let it alone, and go away to some other place where a man isn’t crowded and can come to his own. We are not little men, and there is nothing that we are afraid of except Drink, and we have signed a Contrack on that. Therefore, we are going away to be Kings.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“Boil ’em once or twice in hot water, and they’ll come as fair as chicken and ham.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“The wheel of the world swings through the same phases again and again. Summer passed and winter thereafter, and came and passed again.”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“The Son of Man goes forth to war, A golden crown to gain; His blood-red banner streams afar— Who follows in his train?” I”
― Rudyard Kipling, quote from The Man Who Would Be King
“The eclipses of
poets are not foretold in the calender.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems
“If your fiancé tended to come sailing in windows without notice, you didn’t have extra time to run and gather up messes. She dropped everything into the hamper and stepped into a hot, steamy shower, soap with no cloying scent, just clean. Just her again. And her eyes shut while she was standing there. She’d slip down the shower wall and go to sleep there, but she was already getting stiff. She got out, delved into the medicine cabinet for a couple of Advil and chased them down with a glass of water. Clean, clear water. A miracle. She stood watching crystal liquid swirl down the drain and thought somehow she’d never asked herself how water got that clean. She splashed it up in her face, dried her Band-Aids with a towel And went and turned on her computer. Last thing. Last defining thing – on any day.-Lois Lane”
― C.J. Cherryh, quote from Lois & Clark: A Superman Novel
“Nightingale"
Did I wound you, mutilate. Take away your voice. Did I cut something from you. Leave you locked in silence?
This is what you do: you sing. Every part of you. Your locks of hair sing, your eyes, your hands, your smile. If I listen closely I can even hear your blood.
Was I the one that took that away?
Go down to the water where we used to swim. Stand under the sky at dawn when the sky is streaked with blood. Open your mouth and shout our secret to the waves. The ocean will be your voice. You won't have to carry anything alone. Little Sister, my Spring, April. Little nightingale. Sant at the edge of the water. Your voice will come back to you. Maybe. If I am silent.”
― Francesca Lia Block, quote from Wasteland
“Then again, she had-through a bizarre combination of skill, dumb luck and incredible misfortune-managed to build up a file any Debunker would envy.”
― Stacia Kane, quote from Sacrificial Magic
“We who are in the arts are at the risk of being in a popularity contest rather than a profession. If that fact causes you despair . . . pick another profession. Your desire to communicate must be bigger than your relationship with the chaotic and unfair realities . . . We have to create our own standards of discipline.”
― Anna Deavere Smith, quote from Letters to a Young Artist
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.