Quotes from The Parrot's Theorem

“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

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Popular quotes

“O Canada I have not forgotten you,
as I kneel in my canoe, beholding this vision
of a bookcase.
You are the paddle, the snowshoe, the cabin in the pines.
You are the moose in the clearing and the moosehead on
the wall.
You are the rapids, the propeller, the kerosene lamp.
You are the dust that coats the roadside berries.
But not only that,
you are the two boys with pails walking along that road.”
― Billy Collins, quote from Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems

“And you’re a disgrace to the Tuttle family, you know? I gotta teach you how to throw a punch and you’re gonna learn how to fucking swim. I’m not jumping in to save your sorry ass every time you can’t figure out how to lift your fat head up out of the bathtub.” Matt said, “Fine.” Petey nodded once and said, “Good.” Matt growled, “Whatever.” “Yeah.” “Done.” “Fuck you.”
― J.F. Smith, quote from Latakia

“I don’t know what hurts more,” he said. “Worrying about you or knowing you don’t worry about me.”
― Lydia Michaels, quote from Coming Home

“I don’t know how [books] accumulate like that. They’re part rabbit, I think.”
― Beatriz Williams, quote from Overseas

“and yet she continues to skip rope in my mind and on my canvases, raising her dark, hopeful face to the sky, innocent of the depth of people’s cruelty toward “the other”—those who, for whatever reason, must swim against the tide instead of letting it carry them. . . .”
― Wally Lamb, quote from We Are Water

Interesting books

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.