“We all have a Monster within; the difference is in degree, not in kind.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“You cannot stare evil in the face; it has no face. It has no body, no bones, no blood. Any attempt to describe it ends in glibness and self-delusion.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“The Monster’s crimes were so horrific that a mere man could not possibly have committed them. Satan, in the end, had to be invoked.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“Niccolò, for God’s sake, they accused me of being an accessory to murder, they said I planted a gun at that villa, they’ve indicted me for making false statements and obstruction of justice! They threatened me if I ever return to Italy. And you tell me I shouldn’t be concerned?”
“My dear Douglas, anyone who is anybody in Italy is indagato. I offer you my congratulations on becoming a genuine Italian.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“But we were just picnicking friends”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“As we hoped, our kids began to learn Italian. One day Isaac sat down to dinner, looked at the plate of pasta we’d prepared, made a face, and said, “Che schifo!” a vulgar expression meaning “Gross!” We were so proud.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“Charles backed down. He is reputed to have said, Capon, Capon, vous êtes un mauvais chapon. ‘Capon, Capon, you are one evil chicken.’ ”
“Chicken jokes are quite prevalent in the family,” the countess said.
The count said, “We eat capons at Christmas. It’s a little cannibalistic.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“So I’m in the American Secret Service? Damn.”
“It was all reported in the press the next day.”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“But when I open them up, I find that they’re equal! And they both have achieved the same destiny: my zinc gurney. Why, then, did he tire himself out poring over so many books? Boh! Take my advice, journalist: eat, drink, and enjoy yourself—”
― Douglas Preston, quote from The Monster of Florence
“Our past may shape us, but it doesn't define us.”
― Alyson Noel, quote from Night Star
“That’s the thing about living vicariously; it’s so much faster than actual living. In a few minutes we’ll be worrying about names for the children.”
― Audrey Niffenegger, quote from Her Fearful Symmetry
“I wouldn’t let you leave the House if I didn’t—there’s too much at stake.”
“At stake. Ha-ha.” At his frown, I winced.
“Sorry. I kid when I’m nervous.”
― Chloe Neill, quote from Hard Bitten
“Down to their innate molecular core, cancer cells are hyperactive, survival-endowed, scrappy, fecund, inventive copies of ourselves.”
― Siddhartha Mukherjee, quote from The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
“But that's life. That's what you learn from; when things happen. Especially at your age. You just have to take it in and remember to think afterwards and not forget and never grow bitter.”
― Per Petterson, quote from Out Stealing Horses
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.