“What win I, if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week?
Or sells eternity to get a toy?
For one sweet grape who will the vine destroy?
Or what fond beggar, but to touch the crown,
Would with the sceptre straight be strucken down?”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“What win I if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy.
Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week?
Or sells eternity to get a toy?”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“Those that much covet are with gain so fond,
For what they have not, that which they possess
They scatter and unloose it from their bond,
And so, by hoping more, they have but less;
Or, gaining more, the profit of excess
Is but to surfeit, and such griefs sustain,
That they prove bankrupt in this poor-rich gain.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“But no perfection is so absolute
That some inpurity doth not pollute.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“Beauty itself doth of itself persuade
The eyes of men without orator.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“This forced league doth force a further strife.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“Why should the private pleasure of some one
Become the public plague of many moe?
Let sin, alone committed, light alone
Upon his head that hath transgressed so;
Let guiltless souls be freed from guilty woe:
For one's offence why should so many fall,
To plague a private sin in general?”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
“The deep vexation of is inward soul
Hath served a dumb arrest upon his tongue;
Who, mad that sorrow should his use control,
Or keep him from heart-easing words so long,
Begins to talk; but through his lips do throng
Weak words, so thick come in his poor heart's aid,
That no man could distinguish what he said.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Rape of Lucrece
William Shakespeare
Born place: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, The United Kingdom
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“It has been long proved that everyone needs a butler.”
― Jasper Fforde, quote from One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
“The only real failure is the failure to try, and the measure of success is how we cope with disappointment.”
― Deborah Moggach, quote from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
“The talk of lovers who have just declared their love is one of life's most sweet delights. Each vies with the other in humility, in amazement at being so valued. The past is searched for the first signs and each one is in haste to declare all that he is so that no part of his being escapes the hallowing touch.”
― Iris Murdoch, quote from The Bell
“Ferbus stared in wonder. "He's like a bag of microwave popcorn."
Driggs finally spoke, his voice equally amazed. "But popcorn tends to stop popping after a couple of minutes. He's...still going.”
― Gina Damico, quote from Scorch
“Hey,” I say as I rest the phone on my shoulder.
“Are you really dripping wet and wearing a tiny white towel?” he asks in a raspy low voice.
“Yes, I just got out of the shower.”
“Good,” he exhales into the line. “At least I don’t have this raging hard-on for no reason.”
― Claire Contreras, quote from There is No Light in Darkness
Lover Unbound
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The Bourne Identity
Oedipus Rex
The Scorch Trials
Alanna: The First Ad...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.
