“I suppose I'll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“The burning of a book is a sad, sad sight, for even though a book is nothing but ink and paper, it feels as if the ideas contained in the book are disappearing as the pages turn to ashes and the cover and binding--which is the term for the stitching and glue that holds the pages together--blacken and curl as the flames do their wicked work. When someone is burning a book, they are showing utter contempt for all of the thinking that produced its ideas, all of the labor that went into its words and sentences, and all of the trouble that befell the author . . .”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“As I am sure you know, when people say 'It's my pleasure,' they usually mean something along the lines of, 'There's nothing on Earth I would rather do less.' [...]”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“One can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Neither were you [born yesterday], unless of course I am wrong, in which case welcome to the world, little baby, and congratulations on learning to read so early in life. ”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Deciding whether or not to trust a person is like deciding whether or not to climb a tree because you might get a wonderful view from the highest branch or you might simply get covered in sap and for this reason many people choose to spend their time alone and indoors where it is harder to get a splinter.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Off with you" is a phrase used by people who lack the curtesy to say something more polite, such as, "if there's nothing else you require I must be going" or "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave, please" or even "excuse me but I believe you have mistaken my home for your own and my valuable belongings for yours and I must ask you to return the items in question to me and leave my home after untying me from this chair, as I'm unable to do it myself, if it's not too much trouble.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“But the three siblings were not born yesterday. Violet was born more than fifteen years before this particular Wednesday, and Klaus was born approximately two years after that, and even Sunny who had just passed out of babyhood, was not born yesterday. Neither were you, unless of course I am wrong, in which case, welcome to the world, little baby, and congratulations on learning to read so early in life.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“The hallway was lined with numbered doors, odd numbers on one side and even numbers on the other, and large ornamental vases, too large to hold flowers and too small to hold spies.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“The last safe place is safe no more.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“It is very difficult to make one's way in this world without being wicked at one time or another, when the world's way is so wicked to being with.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“But we can also ask for something we are much more likely to get, and that is to find a person or two, somewhere in our travels, who will tell us that we are noble enough, whether it is true or not. We can ask for someone who will say, “You are noble enough,” and remind us of our good qualities when we have forgotten them, or cast them into doubt.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Are you who I think you are?”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Tell me what it is, or prepare to eat harpoon.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“You’re noble enough, Baudelaires. That’s all we can ask for in this world.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Wicked people never have time for reading,” Dewey said. “It's one of the reasons for their wickedness.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“There are some who say that you should forgive everyone, even the people who
have disappointed you immeasurably. There are others who say you should not forgive anyone, and should stomp off in a huff no matter how many times they apologize.
Of these two philosophies, the second one is of course much more fun, but it can also grow exhausting to stomp off in a huff every time someone has disappointed you, as everyone disappoints everyone eventually, and one can’t stomp off in a huff every minute of the day.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Deciding on a safe answer to a question is like deciding on a safe ingredient in a sandwich, because if you make the wrong decisions you may find that something horrible is coming out of your mouth.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“A great man once said that right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“...If only one had a little more time to do some important reading, all the secrets in the world would become clear.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“Tea should be bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a two-edged sword.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“In general, of course, a stranger who tries to get you into an automobile is anything but noble, and in general a person who quotes great American novelists is anything but treacherous, and in general a man who says you needn't worry about money, or a man who smokes cigarettes, is somewhere in between.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“When someone is crying, of course, the noble thing to do is to comfort them. But if someone is trying to hide their tears, it may also be noble to pretend you do not notice them, so they will not be embarrassed.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“...Calling a person 'sir' can often help you get what you want, unless of course the person is a woman.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“It is always interesting to observe what people are wearing in the middle of the night, although there are more pleasant ways to make such observations without being accused of murder.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“It is very difficult to make one's way in this world without being wicked at one time or another, when the world's way is so wicked to begin with.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“To be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forgo even ambition when the end is gained—who can say this is not greatness?”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
“So you’re a real person! I always thought you were a legendary figure, like unicorns or Giuseppe Verdi.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Penultimate Peril
Lemony Snicket
Born place: in San Francisco, The United States
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“If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy. In no area of human experience are human beings more convinced that something better can be had only if they persevere.”
― P.D. James, quote from The Children of Men
“People do get hypnotized by the hard choices and stop looking at the alternatives. The will to be stupid is a powerful force”
― Lois McMaster Bujold, quote from Brothers in Arms
“So, Mr. Shane, you felt you had the right to come down here and bespoil my crime scene because …” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. “I thought he might need assistance,” Shane lied. “And the untoward angle of his neck did not tell you that he was beyond any earthly assistance you might render?” “I’m not a doctor, sir,” Shane said. “Neither are you a miracle worker, son,” Xavier said. “Should you find any other bodies in my jurisdiction, you will refrain from attempting to raise them from the dead.”
― Jennifer Crusie, quote from Agnes and the Hitman
“In reality I was a pencil drawing of a photocopy of a Polaroid of my sister- you could see the resemblance in a certain light if you were seeking it out because I told you first if you were being nice.”
― Nova Ren Suma, quote from Imaginary Girls
“they’ve come here to dance, drawn sideways from their route home by the music and by bravado, and now they are hesitating, unsure of how to begin, unfamiliar with the steps, embarrassed.............they dance, and he smiles and nods and thinks of his wife sleeping at home, and thinks of when they were young and might still have done something like this………… but here, as the dawn sneaks up on the last day of summer, and as a man with tired hands watches a young couple dance in the carpark of his restaurant, there are only these: sparkling eyes, smudged lipstick, fading starlight, the crunching of feet on gravel, laughter, and a slow walk home……”
― Jon McGregor, quote from If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things
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Notes from a Small I...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.
