“But obviously if there was no concept of ownership there’d be no concept of stealing, would there? As long as there’s one starving child in the world, all property is theft.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“You're a pickpocket right? That's cool. But you don't do it for the money, do you?"
"Maybe the end." I said abruptly.
"The end?"
"What will happen to me in the end. What happens to people who live the way I do? That's what I'd like to know.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“A wallet shows a person’s personality and lifestyle. Just like a cell phone, it is at the center, forming the nucleus of the owner’s secrets, everything he carries on him.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“Life is a mystery. But listen. Why did I turn up in your life in the first place? Do you believe in fate? Was your fate controlled by me, or was being controlled by me your fate? But in the end, aren't they just two sides of the same coin?”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“I thought about how this banknote had witnessed a moment of each one of those people’s lives. Maybe it had been at the scene of a murder, then passed from the murderer to a shopkeeper somewhere, then to a good person somewhere else.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“In this life, the proper way of living is to make use of both joy and suffering. They are both merely stimuli that the world presents to us. So by blending them skillfully within you, you can use them in a completely different way. If you want to be steeped in evil, you mustn’t forget good.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“This woman Koharu could undo their coats and take the money from inside the purse. A technique called ‘nakanuki.’ What’s more, the story goes that after she emptied the purse she’d close it again and button up their coat. Incredible skill.”
“Really?”
“Surrounded by misery, those people laughed at the whole world.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“When humans’ nerves detect big and small stimuli at the same time, they ignore the smaller one.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“Fate is like the relationship between the strong and the weak, don’t you think? Look at religion, for example. The Israelites, who worshipped Jehovah—why were they afraid of him? Because their god was powerful, that’s why. Everyone who believes in gods fears them to some extent.”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“Why does the subconscious mind make people steal? Why does it have to be stealing? Don’t you think it’s something deep-rooted in our nature?”
― Fuminori Nakamura, quote from The Thief
“If we learn to survive even when we are faced with death, we become stronger and can live until God is ready to take us into eternity.”
― Nonna Bannister, quote from The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister
“I must go-- the aunts will be worried. Guy, I don't know if we will meet again, but--" Her voice broke and she tried again. "Sometimes, when you're alone and you look up at--" Once more, she had to stop. Then she managed, "If I cannot be anything else... could I be your Star Sister? Could I at least be that?"
Guy dug his nails into his palms. Everything in him rose in protest at the fey, romantic conceit. He did not want her in the heavens, linked to him by some celestial whimsy, but here and now in the flesh and after the death of the flesh, her hand in his as they rose from graves like these when the last trump sounded.
"Yes," he managed to say. "You can be my Star Sister. You can at least be that.”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress
“Me incliné hacia ella y la besé, presionando mi cuerpo al de ella. Ella sabía muy bien, como fresas y menta. Sus brazos fueron de contra la pared a alrededor de mi cuello, tirando de mí aún más cerca. Sus dedos estaban en mi cabello, sus labios moviéndose a través de mi mejilla, su corazón latiendo con fuerza. Quería arrancar nuestra ropa y dejar que ella se arrastrara por todo mi cuerpo.”
― Julie Cross, quote from Tempest
“God has no need of cold people.”
― Boris Akunin, quote from Missions spéciales
“But it wasn’t really scandals Miss Marple wanted. Nothing to get your teeth into in scandals nowadays. Just men and women changing partners, and calling attention to it, instead of trying decently to hush it up and be properly ashamed of themselves.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from A Caribbean Mystery
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.
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