“Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one's own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“Life arises naturally; where life is, death is, joy is, pain is. Where joy and pain are, ecstacy and horror are, all part of the pattern. They occur as night and day occur on a whirling planet. They are not individually willed into being and shot at persons like arrows. Mankind accepts good fortune as his due, but when bad occurs, he thinks it was aimed at him, done to him, a hex, a curse, a punishment by his deity for some transgression, as though his god were a petty storekeeper, counting up the day’s receipts…”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“Faith healers. God-loves-you religions. State-supported lotteries. All that enormous energy expended to conquer nothing at all, stadia full of people watching no conquering going on. For every scientist or person in government who really tried to conquer, there were a thousand people buying lottery tickets, drinking beer, watching football, and growing old.” Nell objected, “We would have outgrown that…” The voice grew more conversational. “I think not. Once a race has technology, life is so much easier that conquering loses its urgency. I blame myself for leaving when I did. I could have delayed the acquisition of technology until you had killed your devils. Technology concurrent with devil worship never works out well.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“Nothing limits intelligence more than ignorance; nothing fosters ignorance more than one’s own opinions; nothing strengthens opinions more than refusing to look at reality.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“If a society thinks it needs weapons, it must accept killing. If it thinks it needs violent men, it must accept rapine and assault.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“I’m not going to ask God to protect us when we’re able to protect ourselves. When you started getting religious, we agreed not to fight about it. You can pray away all the meteorites in the universe and I won’t mind a bit, but I’m going to build us a shelter.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“I’m incapable of being edified until I’ve had something to eat.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, quote from The Visitor
“The value of choice is not in the size of the action but in its effect”
― Jonathan Maberry, quote from The Dragon Factory
“Susan B. Anthony. “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do,” she once said, “because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”
― Barbara Brown Taylor, quote from Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
“Dann kam Achill das Vieh. Des Mörders Eintritt in den Tempel, der, als er im Eingang stand, verdunkelt wurde. Was wollte dieser Mensch. Was suchte er bewaffnet hier im Tempel. Grässlichster Augenblick: Ich wusst es schon. Dann lachte er. Jedes Haar auf meinem Kopf stand mir zu Berge, und in die Augen meines Bruders trat der reine Schrecken. Ich warf mich über ihn und wurde weggeschoben wie ein Ding aus Nichts [...] Lachend, alles lachend. Ihm an den Hals griff. An die Kehle ging [...] Des Bruders Augen aus den Höhlen quellend. Und in Achills Gesicht die Lust. Die nackte grässliche männliche Lust [...] Nun hob der Feind, das Monstrum, im Anblick der Apollon-Statue sein Schwert und trennte meines Bruders Kopf vom Rumpf.”
― Christa Wolf, quote from Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays
“❝Washington — perhaps as many global powers have done in the past — uses what I might call the “immaculate conception” theory of crises abroad. That is, we believe we are essentially out there, just minding our own business, trying to help make the world right, only to be endlessly faced with a series of spontaneous, nasty challenges from abroad to which we must react. There is not the slightest consideration that perhaps US policies themselves may have at least contributed to a series of unfolding events. This presents a huge paradox: how can America on the one hand pride itself on being the world’s sole global superpower, with over seven hundred military bases abroad and the Pentagon’s huge global footprint, and yet, on the other hand, be oblivious to and unacknowledging of the magnitude of its own role — for better or for worse — as the dominant force charting the course of world events? This Alice-in-Wonderland delusion affects not just policy makers, but even the glut of think tanks that abound in Washington. In what may otherwise often be intelligent analysis of a foreign situation, the focus of each study is invariably the other country, the other culture, the negative intentions of other players; the impact of US actions and perceptions are quite absent from the equation. It is hard to point to serious analysis from mainstream publications or think tanks that address the role of the United States itself in helping create current problems or crises, through policies of omission or commission. We’re not even talking about blame here; we’re addressing the logical and self-evident fact that the actions of the world’s sole global superpower have huge consequences in the unfolding of international politics. They require examination.”
― Graham E. Fuller, quote from A World Without Islam
“The human mind needs boundaries. Without them it would fall in on itself, like a crushed honeycomb.”
― Emma Donoghue, quote from Landing
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.