“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Me, poor man, my library
Was dukedom large enough.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices,
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Now I will believe that there are unicorns...”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“This thing of darkness I
Acknowledge mine.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“O, brave new world
that has such people in't!”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Awake, dear heart, awake. Thou hast slept well. Awake.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Your tale, sir, would cure deafness.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Let us not burthen our remembrance with
A heaviness that's gone.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“I would not wish any companion in the world but you.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Good wombs have borne bad sons."
-- (Miranda, I:2)”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“You taught me language, and my profit on't / Is, I know how to curse”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“I am your wife if you will marry me.
If not, I'll die your maid. To be your fellow
You may deny me, but I'll be your servant Whether you will or no.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“I long to hear the story of your life, which must captivate the ear strangely.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“...and then, in dreaming, / The clouds methought would open and show riches / Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked / I cried to dream again.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“At this hour
Lie at my mercy all mine enemies.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Watch out he's winding the watch of his wit, by and by it will strike.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm’d
The noontide sun, call’d forth the mutinous winds,
And ‘twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire and rifted Jove’s stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck’d up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let ‘em forth
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I’ll drown my book.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Thou shalt be free
As mountain winds: but then exactly do
All points of my command.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Their manners are more gentle, kind, than of our generation you shall find.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in it!”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands.
Curtsied when you have and kissed
The wild waves whist,
Foot is featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.
Ariel's song, scene II, Act I”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“This rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from The Tempest
“The state should confine itself to establishing rules applying to general types of situations and should allow the individuals freedom in everything which depends on the circumstances of time and place, because only the individuals concerned in each instance can fully know these circumstances and adapt their actions to them. If the individuals are able to use their knowledge effectively in making plans, they must be able to predict actions of the state which may affect these plans. But if the actions of the state are to be predictable, they must be determined by rules fixed independently of the concrete circumstances which can be neither foreseen nor taken into account beforehand; and the particular effects of such actions will be unpredictable. If, on the other hand, the state were to direct the individual’s actions so as the achieve particular ends, its actions would have to be decided on the basis of the full circumstances of the moment and would therefore be unpredictable. Hence the familiar fact that the more the state “plans”, the more difficult planning becomes for the individual.”
― Friedrich A. Hayek, quote from The Road to Serfdom
“even I could not guess what misgivings lay behind Perrin's clear eyes. Perhaps none; perhaps he trusted Laurel without question. Perhaps he was right. All I knew is what Laurel's hands said when she spoke Corbet's name. And how often she said it, until it seemed, like the falling of autumn leaves, or the long ribbons of migrating birds, one of the season's changes.”
― Patricia A. McKillip, quote from Winter Rose
“How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?”
― James M. McPherson, quote from Battle Cry of Freedom
“Sam stares at me. He's frozen. His hands are extended out in front of him like he just shoved the Piken and still hasn't finished with the follow-through. Slowly, he blinks his eyes. Sam looks down at his hands, then over at me.
"Holy shit," he says. "Did I just do that?”
― Pittacus Lore, quote from The Revenge of Seven
“The law of probability combined with the law of large numbers states that to beat the odds, sometimes you have to repeat an event an increasing number of times in order to get you to the outcome you desire. The more you do, the closer you get. Or… basically, sometimes you just have to keep going.”
― Jojo Moyes, quote from One Plus One
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.