Quotes from The Wild Iris

“I don’t need your praise
to survive. I was here first,
before you were here, before
you ever planted a garden.
And I’ll be here when only the sun and moon
are left, and the sea, and the wide field.

I will constitute the field.”
― Louise Glück, quote from The Wild Iris

“...whatever/ returns from oblivion/ returns to find a voice.”
― Louise Glück, quote from The Wild Iris

“I watched the first shoots
like wings tearing the soil, and it was my heart
broken by the blight, the black spot so quickly
multiplying in the rows. I doubt
you have a heart, in our understanding of
that term. You who do not discriminate
between the dead and the living, who are, in consequence,
immune to foreshadowing...”
― Louise Glück, quote from The Wild Iris

“the powerful are always lied to since the weak are always driven to panic”
― Louise Glück, quote from The Wild Iris

“End of Winter”

Over the still world, a bird calls
waking solitary among black boughs.

You wanted to be born; I let you be born.
When has my grief ever gotten
in the way of your pleasure?

Plunging ahead
into the dark and light at the same time
eager for sensation

as though you were some new thing, wanting
to express yourselves

all brilliance, all vivacity
never thinking
this would cost you anything,
never imagining the sound of my voice
as anything but part of you—

you won’t hear it in the other world,
not clearly again,
not in birdcall or human cry,

not the clear sound, only
persistent echoing
in all sound that means good-bye, good-bye—

the one continuous line
that binds us to each other.”
― Louise Glück, quote from The Wild Iris

“Remember that time you made the wish?

I make a lot of wishes.

The time I lied to you
about the butterfly. I always wondered
what you wished for.

What do you think I wished for?

I don't know. That I'd come back,
that we'd somehow be together in the end.

I wished for what I always wish for.
I wished for another poem.”
― Louise Glück, quote from The Wild Iris

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Popular quotes

“Muzykę rockową grają głównie mężczyźni. Ekspresja jest agresywnie męska. Obserwator z zewnątrz powinien zatem szybko zorientować się, że rock nie jet knapsu. Ale temu należy przeciwstawić fakt, że brzdąkane nie jest żadną porządną pracą. Dzień w lesie i gość będzie sikał krwią. Również śpiewanie uważano za niemęskie, przynajmniej w okolicach Pajali i w stanie trzeźwym. A już robić to po angielsku, w języku zdecydowanie za miękkim dla twardych fińskich szczęk, tak zwiotczałym, że tylko dziewczyny mogły mieć z niego piątki, w tym ślimakowatym szwargocie, drżącym i wilgotnym, wynalezionym przez chodzących w błocie mieszkańców wybrzeża, którzy nigdy nie musieli walczyć, którzy nigdy nie głodowali i nie marzli, mowie dla obiboków, trawożerców, leniuchów pierdzących w kanapy, mowie całkowicie pozbawionej rześkości, do tego stopnia, że język flaczeje w ustach jak odcięty napletek.”
― Mikael Niemi, quote from Popular Music from Vittula

“Two decades of virtually uninterrupted fighting had made even the most dignified structures appear drunken, wounded, or lost. The entire city seemed to affirm the notion that warfare is a disease.”
― Greg Mortenson, quote from Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan

“And then what do I do?” Joyce asked, her voice suddenly pinched.”
― Anita Diamant, quote from Good Harbor

“I know your hormones are raging right now, but that does not justify bumping off the creepy new kids in school!”
― Abra Ebner, quote from Book of Love

“Don’t tell me there are more things like that on the streets.”

“Okay,” he said.”
― Devon Monk, quote from Magic in the Shadows

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

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.