“It is about being born downtrodden and staying that way. Hard work makes no difference, he is saying. My lot, the lots of those around me, were cast the moment we were born into the gutter to parents who never managed to step outside the gutter themselves.”
― Cathy Marie Buchanan, quote from The Painted Girls
“Willfulness, such as yours, is exactly what a girl needs to raise herself up to do something useful with her life.”
― Cathy Marie Buchanan, quote from The Painted Girls
“No social being is less protected than the young Parisian girl—by laws, regulations, and social customs.”
― Cathy Marie Buchanan, quote from The Painted Girls
“She was lost to me, a sister who did not love her sister anymore. Such a stupid thing, striking that match.”
― Cathy Marie Buchanan, quote from The Painted Girls
“Maman drops to her knees, grasps the hem of Monsieur LeBlanc’s greatcoat. “You cannot turn us out. My daughters, all three good girls, you would put them on the street?”
― Cathy Marie Buchanan, quote from The Painted Girls
“It seems that what I really want is a drug that will increase my consciousness of others, not myself.”
― Jerzy Kosiński, quote from The Painted Bird
“Not sure how I felt about Antonio and Echo, I linked my fingers with hers. Antonio cocked a surprised eyebrow. Damn straight, bro. I just marked my territory.”
― Katie McGarry, quote from Pushing the Limits
“I triumph and rejoice that my action should have obtained your approval; nor am I disturbed when I hear it said that those whom I have sent off alive and free will again bear arms against me; for there is nothing which I so much covet as that I should be like myself, and they like themselves.”
― Vikram Seth, quote from A Suitable Boy
“Life is not a PG feel-good movie. Real life often ends badly. Literature tries to document this reality, while showing us it is still possible for us to endure nobly.”
― Matthew Quick, quote from The Silver Linings Playbook
“Power's a strange thing, lad. It's a drug people like me crave it.”
― Nancy Farmer, quote from The House of the Scorpion
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.