“Nowadays people rush into print before they’ve even finished the proof.”
― Denis Guedj, quote from The Parrot's Theorem
“Thales did something different. He asked questions to which he didn’t know the answers.”
― Denis Guedj, quote from The Parrot's Theorem
“I forzati del portatile lo guardarono con indulgenza, mentre cercava con ansia febbrile. Il portapenne non c'era più. Si era certamente spezzato! Chinandosi per guardare sotto il tavolo, notò il rigonfiamento in una delle opere che trattavano di matematica e, aprendola, trovò il portapenne di Murano, infilato tra due pagine.”
― Denis Guedj, quote from The Parrot's Theorem
“[...] Quella perdita della libertà nello spazio fisico, aveva trovato il modo di compensarla, sostituendovi spazi di pensiero nuovi. Ciascuno se la cava come può, ammesso che ci riesca.”
― Denis Guedj, quote from The Parrot's Theorem
“I libri non resuscitano i morti, e non fanno di un idiota un uomo capace di ragionare, né di uno stupido un individuo intelligente: aguzzano lo spirito, lo destano, lo affinano e appagano la sua sete di conoscenza. Quanto a chi vuol sapere tutto, è meglio che la famiglia lo faccia curare, perché un simile desiderio non può che nascere da un turbamento dello spirito. Muto quando gli imponi il silenzio, eloquente quando lo fai parlare. Grazie al libro, puoi apprendere nello spazio di un mese quello che un'eternità non ti consentirebbe di apprendere dalle labbra di un sapiente, e questo senza farti contrarre debiti di sapere. Ti libera dall'imbarazzo, ti solleva dalle necessità di frequentare persone odiose e di avere rapporti con individui stupidi e incapaci di comprendere. Ti obbedisce di giorno come di notte, tanto in viaggio quanto nei periodi in cui sei sedentario. Se cadi in disgrazia, non per questo il libro rinuncia a servirti; se venti contrari soffiano contro di te, non ti si rivolta contro. Accade talvolta che il libro sia superiore al suo autore.”
― Denis Guedj, quote from The Parrot's Theorem
“although science could pinpoint the exact spot in the brain that ignites rage, they had yet to identify the location that produces love.”
― Erich Segal, quote from Doctors
“It’s in our own interests to look at eternity. Looking at eternity brings us back to ourselves, makes us face ourselves—and what do we see? We see something mortal, we see our ideas, we see our thoughts, we see our attitudes, we see what we want, what we remember—all of this is in time. All of this is going to be taken away; it’s going to vanish, that’s inevitable.”
― Belzebuub, quote from Gazing Into the Eternal
“Memories do not always soften with time; some grow edges like knives.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from The Lacuna
“The trick would be to find which few of them had the potential for raw power, the nearly superhuman stamina, the indomitable willpower, and the intellectual capacity necessary to master the details of technique. And which of them, coupled improbably with all those other qualities, had the most important one: the ability to disregard his own ambitions, to throw his ego over the gunwales, to leave it swirling in the wake of his shell, and to pull, not just for himself, not just for glory, but for the other boys in the boat.”
― Daniel James Brown, quote from The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
“For the world did not change, this violence had always existed and would never be eradicated, men would die under the boot and fists and horror of other men until the end of time, and all human history was a history of violence.”
― Richard Flanagan, quote from The Narrow Road to the Deep North
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.