Quotes from The Mosquito Coast

Paul Theroux ·  384 pages

Rating: (8.2K votes)


“I guessed it was a migratory bird, too innocent to be wary of the spiders in the jungle grass. It worried be to think that we were a little like that bird”
― Paul Theroux, quote from The Mosquito Coast


“And father said "I never wanted this. I'm sick of everyone pretending to be old Dan Beavers in his L. L. Bean moccasins, and his Dubbelwares, and his Japanese bucksaw -- all these fake frontiersmen with their chuck wagons full of Twinkies and Wonderbread and aerosol cheese spread. Get out the Duraflame log and the plastic cracker barrel, Dan, and let's talk self-sufficiency!”
― Paul Theroux, quote from The Mosquito Coast


“Nature is crooked. I wanted right angles and straight lines. Ice! Oh, why do they all drip? You cut yourself opening a can of tuna fish and you die. One puncture in your foot and your life leaks out through your toe. What are they for, moose antlers? Get down on all fours and live. You're protected on your hands and knees. It's either that or wings.”
― Paul Theroux, quote from The Mosquito Coast


“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
― Paul Theroux, quote from The Mosquito Coast


“He used the word savages with affection, as if he liked them a little for it. In his nature was a respect for wildness. He saw it as a personal challenge, something that could be put right with an idea or a machine. He felt he had the answer to most problems, if anyone cared to listen.”
― Paul Theroux, quote from The Mosquito Coast



About the author

Paul Theroux
Born place: in Medford, Massachusetts, The United States
Born date April 10, 1941
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“She had a rear end as big as an open dictionary and a bad attitude.”
― Elizabeth McCracken, quote from The Giant's House


“Everyone has to build anew his sky of hope and peace.”
― Kakuzō Okakura, quote from The Book of Tea


Words

Be careful of words,
even the miraculous ones.
For the miraculous we do our best,
sometimes they swarm like insects
and leave not a sting but a kiss.
They can be as good as fingers.
They can be as trusty as the rock
you stick your bottom on.
But they can be both daisies and bruises.
Yet I am in love with words.
They are doves falling out of the ceiling.
They are six holy oranges sitting in my lap.
They are the trees, the legs of summer,
and the sun, its passionate face.
Yet often they fail me.
I have so much I want to say,
so many stories, images, proverbs, etc.
But the words aren't good enough,
the wrong ones kiss me.
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
but with the wings of a wren.
But I try to take care
and be gentle to them.
Words and eggs must be handled with care.
Once broken they are impossible
things to repair.”
― Anne Sexton, quote from The Complete Poems


“Çünkü akıl maddeyi güzelleştirir bilgi aklı parlatır.”
― Alexandra Lapierre, quote from Artemisia


“What's amazing is that she was possessed by Satan for almost a year and nobody noticed anything unusual!”
― MaryJanice Davidson, quote from Undead and Unappreciated


Interesting books

Olive's Ocean
(11.9K)
Olive's Ocean
by Kevin Henkes
Life's Golden Ticket: An Inspirational Novel
(2.8K)
Life's Golden Ticket...
by Brendon Burchard
The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon
(2.4K)
The Man Who Fell in...
by Tom Spanbauer
Through Gates of Splendor
(19K)
Through Gates of Spl...
by Elisabeth Elliot
Shift
(15.4K)
Shift
by Rachel Vincent
Wicked Game
(3.1K)
Wicked Game
by Jeri Smith-Ready

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.