Quotes from The Purloined Letter

Edgar Allan Poe ·  48 pages

Rating: (8.4K votes)


“That is another of your odd notions," said the Prefect, who had a fashion of calling every thing "odd" that was beyond his comprehension, and thus lived amid an absolute legion of "oddities.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter


“As a poet and as a mathematician, he would reason well; as a mere mathematician, he could not have reasoned at all.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter


“We gave him a hearty welcome, for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man..”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter


“The principle of vis inertiae (...) seems to be identical in physics and metaphysics. It is not more true in the former, that a large body is with more difficulty set in motion than a smaller one, and that its subsequent momentum is commensurate with this difficulty, than it is, in the latter, that intellects of the vaster capacity, while more forcible, more constant, and more eventful in their movements than those of inferior grade, are yet the less readily moved, and more embarrassed, and full of hesitation in the first few steps of their progress”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter


“Not altogether a fool," said G., "but then he's a poet, which I take to be only one remove from a fool."

"True," said Dupin, after a long and thoughtful whiff from his meerschaum, "although I have been guilty of certain doggerel myself.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter



“Ha! ha! ha! -- ha! ha! ha! -- ho! ho! ho!”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter


“In short, I never yet encountered the mere mathematician who could be trusted out of equal roots, or one who did not clandestinely hold it as a point of his faith that x squared + px was absolutely and unconditionally equal to q. Say to one of these gentlemen, by way of experiment, if you please, that you believe occasions may occur where x squared + px is not altogether equal to q, and, having made him understand what you mean, get out of his reach as speedily as convenient, for, beyond doubt, he will endeavor to knock you down.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Purloined Letter


About the author

Edgar Allan Poe
Born place: in Boston, Massachusetts, The United States
Born date January 19, 1809
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“His mind’s always on something else. He’d live in a ratty cardigan, and he’s always worrying holes in the pockets of his pants. He can never seem to find his wallet or anything in the refrigerator. And just when you think he’s not paying any attention to what you’re saying or doing, he comes up with exactly the right answer or solution.”", [J.D. Robb, Celebrity In Death"“People""who expect perfection in a mate miss a lot of fun—and sweetness.", [J.D. Robb, Celebrity In Death]”
― J.D. Robb, quote from Celebrity in Death


“I think it’s funny how people say what dead people would want, as if they would know.”
― Peter Monn, quote from The Before Now and After Then


“There is always a thought of marriage between a single female and a personable gentleman, if not in his mind, quite certainly in hers.”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from Regency Buck


“Yeah, I know, the Mars thing. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. When did you get the idea it would be cute to carve my dad's cell-phone number on a rock in the middle of Syrtis Major? He hates it when people call me on his phone."
Kit gave Nita a resigned look. "Sorry," he said, "I couldn't resist.”
― Diane Duane, quote from Wizards at War


“إننا أحرار , لأن القدر لن يساعدنا إذا لم نساعده”
― Eduardo Galeano, quote from The Book of Embraces


Interesting books

Wise Children
(5.8K)
Wise Children
by Angela Carter
Reservation Blues
(11.4K)
Reservation Blues
by Sherman Alexie
The Empress's Tomb
(2.9K)
The Empress's Tomb
by Kirsten Miller
Desolation Angels
(9.5K)
Desolation Angels
by Jack Kerouac
The Confession
(52.5K)
The Confession
by John Grisham
The Proposition
(47.6K)
The Proposition
by Katie Ashley

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.