“Deep down we've never been who we think we once were, and we only remember what never happened.”
“One mustn't dream of one's future; one must earn it.”
“Destiny doesn't do home visits... you have to go for it yourself.”
“I've always thought that anyone who needs to join a herd so badly must be a bit of a sheep himself.”
“Everything can be forgiven in this world, save telling the truth.”
“A good liar knows that the most efficient lie is always a truth that has had a key piece removed from it.”
“The world's very small when you don't have anywhere to go.”
“That's what happens when people reach old age; nobody remembers they've been bastards too.”
“There are times and places where not to be anyone is more honourable than to be someone.”
“In those days, Christmas still retained a certain aura of magic and mystery. The powdery light of winter, the hopeful expressions of people who lived among shadows and silence, lent that setting a slight air of promise in which at least children and those who had learned the art of forgetting could still believe.”
“People with a meagre soul always try to make others feel small too.”
“I don't belong to any side. What's more, I think flags are nothing but painted rags that represent rancid emotions. Just seeing someone wrapped up in one of them, spewing out hymns, badges and speeches, gives me the runs. I've always thought that anyone who needs to join a herd so badly must be a bit of a sheep himself”
“None of us are what we once were.”
“... deep down nobody is bad, only frightened.”
“I think today will be the day. Today our luck will change,' I proclaimed on the wings of the first coffee of the day, pure optimism in a liquid state.”
“Sometimes I think that Darwin made a mistake and that in fact man is descended from the pig, because eight out of every ten members of the human race are swine, and as crooked as a hog's tail.”
“Madmen always think it's the others who are mad.”
“Those times, against all expectations, were turning out to be good times. Then he felt afraid, because he knew they couldn't last long and those stolen drops of happiness and peace would evaporate.”
“In principle I'm an atheist, although in fact I have a lot of faith”
“A madman is one who considers himself sane and thinks that fools don’t belong in his rank.”
“Sometimes one forgets that not everyone in this world is a bastard.”
“Hay épocas y lugares en los que no ser nadie es más honorable que ser alguien.”
“Afterwards, once you lost all hope, time began to go faster and the senseless days deadened your soul.”
“Those were the words she wanted to hear and she finally surrendered to the temptation of believing them.”
“Men are like chestnuts they sell in the street: they’re all hot and they all smell good when you buy them, but when you take them out of the paper cone you realise that most of them are rotten inside.”
“Why is it that all wars are won by bankers?”
“Cuando Martín declaró en el juicio que la única buena costumbre que él defendía era la de leer y que el resto era asunto de cada uno, el juez añadió otros diez años de condena a los no sé cuanto que ya le habían caído.”
“When I saw my friend kissing the woman he loved it occurred to me that this moment, this instant stolen from time and from God, was worth all the days of misery that had brought us to this place and the many others that were doubtless waiting for us on our return to life. And that everything that was decent and clean and pure in this world and everything for which it was worth living and breathing was in those lips, in those hands and in the look of that fortunate couple who, I know, would be together for the rest of their lives.”
“You should get more sun and fresh air. The other day I read in the paper that vitamin D increases our faith in fellow humans.”
“Let's shake hands and be friends, but please, I beg you, stop farting like that, because I'm beginning to hallucinate and in my dreams I see Comrade Joseph Stalin doing the Charleston.”
“I have always contended that girls are the sturdier of the genders and wondered in secret if the One that Is might not best be identified with the creativity of the female heart.”
“I'd wager you have a vengeful streak a mile wide," he muttered.
"I am the least vengeful person I know," she said with a sniff. "And if you think otherwise, then perhaps you ought not to marry me."
"You're marrying me," he ground out, "if I have to drag you to the altar bound and gagged."
Ellie smiled waspishly. "You could try," she taunted, "but in your condition you couldn't drag a flea."
"And you say you're not vengeful."
"I seem to be developing a taste for it.”
“Joel, for all his talk of communal childrearing and tribes, deeply resented the idea that Lenny should have succeeded in evoking Audrey's passion where her 'real' children had failed. 'Karla and Rosa are your flesh and blood,' he would chide her. But these appeals to sanguine loyalty missed the point, she felt. If anything, the fact that Lenny was not hers made it easier to love him. As the coauthor of Karla and Rosa, she could not help but look upon them with the dissatisfied eye of an artist assessing her own flawed handiwork. Lenny, on the other hand, was an unsolicited donation: she was free to enjoy the gift of him without any burden of genetic responsibility for his imperfections. She had chosen to love him. The disparity in her feelings toward her daughters and her son was regrettable, but it was not something that was her gift to correct.”
“A spontaneous proposition deserves a spontaneous response."
"You gave me a spontaneous response when you said no.”
“And yet there was something about his strength, his arrogance, his sheer size that got under my skin. He probably couldn't even spell vanilla. He was probably selfish in the sack. Probably selfish and greedy and...unsophisticated. And hung like a horse.”
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.