Quotes from The Purloined Letter

“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

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Popular quotes

“I responded to the gravity of an invisible moon at my core, and I undertook journeys I had not expected to take.”
― Mohsin Hamid, quote from The Reluctant Fundamentalist

“I'm the fucking Horde King, I don't woo."
"Woo her," Ristan continues.
"I don't woo."
"Woo," he repeats.
"I'm not the kind of man to woo anyone. I can make her scream my name to the rafters, isn't that enough wooing?"
"Woo," Ristan smirks, which only served to irritate me more.
"Woo," I grind out on an exhale.
"Yes, woo," he says, already turning to walk away. I watch his shoulders quake with laughter.
"Woo," I growl.
"Woo!" He says over his shaking shoulders.
"Fuck me," I shake my head.
"No thanks, not my type...”
― Amelia Hutchins, quote from Escaping Destiny

“And now, if you have anything more to ask, I can't think how you can manage it, for I've never heard anyone tell more of the story of the world. Make what use of it you can.”
― Snorri Sturluson, quote from The Prose Edda

“We did as we were told, staying outdoors, and not bothering Jeremy and Peter. Yet that could be
done while sitting outside the study window, where we could listen to the conversation within.
Kids who don’t eavesdrop on adult conversations are doomed to a childhood of ignorance.
Of what I heard that afternoon, I understood only one key point: that Peter was leaving the Pack.
Why he was leaving, what that meant for his life, how difficult that decision was for him to
make, all that I wouldn’t fully understand for years to come. From the tone of the conversation,
though, I knew that this decision marked the end of a long personal struggle with the issue of
Pack-hood. I knew too that this was a decision Jeremy had both known and feared was coming.
Roughly half of all Pack youth left the group in their early twenties. It was like membership in any regimented segment of human society—children stay with the group because they have to, then when they hit adulthood, they realize that they have a choice. Some, like Antonio, chafe at the rules, but not enough to consider leaving. Some, like Jeremy, disagree with many of the principles, but believe in the institution itself enough to stay and try to effect change from within. Others look around and say ‘”I don’t belong here”, and this was the case with Peter.”
― Kelley Armstrong, quote from Men of the Otherworld

“THE GIRL WAS TWENTY-THREE POUNDS OF NO! NO, BED! NO, SLEEP! No, no, no!”
― Tess Gerritsen, quote from Ice Cold

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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.