Quotes from The Testing

“Things don't always work out the way we hope. You just have to pick yourself up and find a new direction to go in.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“The best leaders make mistakes and then learn from them. The best leaders never make the same mistakes again. The only way you can learn is if you understand the mistakes that were made.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Leaders are forced to kill all the time. Then they have to learn to live with the decisions they make. Just like I'm going to learn to live with mine.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“[...] the biggest failures typically come before the biggest breakthroughs. That no matter what, I should never get discouraged. Learn from my mistakes and all will be well.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Maybe that’s the mark of a real leader. Admitting a mistake has been made and finding a way to stop it at all costs.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“All leaders have to live with disappointment at some point or another. If I have to learn that lesson early, I won’t enjoy it, but I will do my best not to let you down.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Boys and dating haven’t been on my priority list. And they certainly can’t be now.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“The earth is resilient, but it’s hard to imagine a time when this place will be anything but a terrible reminder of what we as a people can do.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“don’t always work out the way we hope. You just have to pick yourself up and find a new direction to go in.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“At five feet, two inches, I am the shortest girl in my class.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“the biggest failures typically come before the biggest breakthroughs. That no matter what, I should never get discouraged. Learn from my mistakes and all will be well.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Things don’t always work out the way we hope. You just have to pick yourself up and find a new direction to go in.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Tell a girl you love her and she automatically gets bossy. Well, I guess I can’t complain since you’re asking me to take off my pants.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“The Testing is no longer filled with excitement for the opportunity to help the Commonwealth rebuild. The Testing is now about staying alive.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Leaders are forced to kill all the time. Then they have to learn to live with the decisions they make. Just like I’m going to learn to live with mine.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“All the living want to do is care for the dead. And now they, too, are among the fallen.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“You’re lucky both you and your boyfriend were chosen,” she says with quiet sincerity. “Tomas isn’t my boyfriend.” I feel the blush on my cheeks. “You could have fooled me.” She gives me a wide smile. “I think he’s in love with you.” “He’s just watching out for me. You know, since we’re from the same colony,” I say, but I can’t help the thrill I feel at her words.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“You're going to get up and face whatever comes. I'll be proud of you no matter what today brings.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“I think it's a good idea to be prepared for whatever might be coming. If they aren't real, then we won't be any worse off for keeping alert. If they are . . .”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Forgetting that it happened doesn't change anything. Nothing can change the past.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Well, maybe that's what the whole test is really about. Leaders are forced to kill all the time. Then they have to learn to live with the decisions they make. Just like I'm going to learn to live with mine.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“All leaders have to live with disappointment at some point or another. If I have to learn that lesson early, I won't enjoy it, but I will do my best not to let you down.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“I wish I could go back to who I was, but I'm different.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Perhaps that’s the first rule I will learn as an adult—that you can’t always get what you want. Zeen”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“Knowing I may never see the room again makes me look at it with fresh eyes. A fire glows in the hearth nestled into the back wall. A square, worn brown rug sits in the middle of the room. Two sets of bunk beds are arranged on either side of the rug. Only mine, the bottom bed closest to the fireplace, has the sheets tucked in and the quilt smoothed. As soon as the boys graduated from school, Mom declared them old enough to tidy up their own beds. And they decided they were old enough not to care whether they slept in tightly tucked sheets. We each have a wooden chest for our everyday clothes and shoes. The special clothes are hung in the large wooden armoire in the corner. Mother always talks about first impressions. I gnaw on my bottom lip and weigh the merits of all my clothes. Feeling confident is always easier when dressed in something special, but I hear my father’s voice replay in my head. I imagine the abandoned city street he walked in his dream. The two dresses I own won’t help me there. And even if the dreams aren’t real, I know in my heart pretty clothes won’t help once The Testing begins.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

“turn to say as much to Tomas when his lips find mine in a gentle kiss. My heartbeat quickens. I can’t see his face in the darkness, but I know Tomas is giving me the chance to pull away. But I don’t. I lean in and feel Tomas’s mouth smile against mine before the kiss deepens. I snake a hand around his neck and hold tight as a thrilling shiver travels through me. Despite our tenuous situation, nothing has ever felt this perfect.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from The Testing

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“Officer Pike took off his dark glasses, and looked at her. She felt her breath catch. His eyes were the most liquid blue, the blue of the sky over the high deserts of Sonora, the blue of the ocean where it has no bottom and is infinitely clean. But it wasn’t the blue that stopped her breath. For just a moment when the glasses were first pulled away, she could have sworn that those eyes were filled with the most terrible and long-endured pain. Then the pain was gone and there was only the blue.”
― Robert Crais, quote from L.A. Requiem

“Justify my soul, O God, but also from Your fountains fill my will with fire. Shine in my mind, although perhaps this means “be darkness to my experience,” but occupy my heart with Your tremendous Life. Let my eyes see nothing in the world but Your glory, and let my hands touch nothing that is not for Your service. Let my tongue taste no bread that does not strengthen me to praise Your great mercy. I will hear Your voice and I will hear all harmonies You have created, singing Your hymns. Sheep’s wool and cotton from the field shall warm me enough that I may live in Your service; I will give the rest to Your poor. Let me use all things for one sole reason: to find my joy in giving You glory. Therefore keep me, above all things, from sin. Keep me from the death of deadly sin which puts hell in my soul. Keep me from the murder of lust that blinds and poisons my heart. Keep me from the sins that eat a man’s flesh with irresistible fire until he is devoured. Keep me from loving money in which is hatred, from avarice and ambition that suffocate my life. Keep me from the dead works of vanity and the thankless labor in which artists destroy themselves for pride and money and reputation, and saints are smothered under the avalanche of their own importunate zeal. Stanch in me the rank wound of covetousness and the hungers that exhaust my nature with their bleeding. Stamp out the serpent envy that stings love with poison and kills all joy. Untie my hands and deliver my heart from sloth. Set me free from the laziness that goes about disguised as activity when activity is not required of me, and from the cowardice that does what is not demanded, in order to escape sacrifice. But give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone. For there is only one thing that can satisfy love and reward it, and that is You alone.”
― Thomas Merton, quote from New Seeds of Contemplation

“For capitalism flourishes best in a mobile and egalitarian society”
― Francis Fukuyama, quote from The End of History and the Last Man

“Television, I'm afraid, has isolated us more than race, class, or ethnicity.”
― Paul Fleischman, quote from Seedfolks

“When I tell you you’ll fart and pee in your pants with terror.”
― Shi Nai'an, quote from Outlaws of the Marsh

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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.