Quotes from The Wild Things

Dave Eggers ·  288 pages

Rating: (7.6K votes)


“One might think that a boy who was out in the snow for so long would get cold, but Max was not. He was warm, partly because he had on many layers, and partly because boys who are part wolf and part wind do not get cold.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“Maybe he hadn't thought the war through. It had seemed like simple fun when he had first pictured it, with a glorious beginning, a difficult but valor-filled middle, and a victorious end. He hadn't accounted for the fact that there might not be much of a resolution to the battle, and he hadn't imagined what it would feel like when the war just sort of ended, without anyone admitting defeat and congratulating him for his bravery.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“He was warm, partly because he had on many layers, and partly because boys whoa re part wolf and part wind do not get cold.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“This is why Max loved Mr. Beckmann: he was an equal. He seemed to have navigated his way through seven or so decades of adulthood without forgetting one moment of his childhood- what he loved and hated, feared and coveted.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“Animals howl, he had been told, to declare their existence.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things



“Max had to think about these new developments. He hadn't liked getting hit by a rock--his stomach still ached from then rock Judith had thrown--but then again, when his team had used rocks on Alexander, it had caused him to surrender. Now the Bad Guys only had three soldiers left, which would make victory for Max's team more likely. So now it made perfect sense. He was wrong to ban rocks, or even animals. The key was to use all the weapons at one's disposal, but to just make sure you won when you used them.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“Why would you need a ship, Max? You're thinking of leaving already?"
No, no," Max said. "This would be just for fun. Or emergencies." Carol's face had darkened and his eyes had gone small. His expression scattered Max's brain so much he started babbling: "It'll have a trampoline. And a big aquarium. An aquarium under the water, inside the ship, where we keep the fish and squids and stuff we like...”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“She looked at Max, grinning for a moment. "Wow, I can't even look at you."
She closed her eyes tightly.
"Why?" Max asked.
Her eyes remained closed, a wide smile on her face.
"I don't know. I guess you just seem good."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She opened one eye, just a sliver.
"Yeah, wow. It's almost unbearable.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“It looked a lot like a dog.
"What's that?" Max asked, expecting to hear about a mythical creature with a mythical name.
Carol squinted and put his hand over his eyes to see better. "Oh that's a dog," he said. "I don't talk to that guy anymore.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


“Apparently some on on the Bad Guys' side had balled up this animal named Larry, and had thrown him at Max's team. Max couldn't decide whether he should band the use of animal projectiles or not. But before he could make a decision and as Larry began to scurry off dizzily, Carol grabbed him, balled him up again, and hurled him back.
There was a shriek from the Bad Guys' camp.
"Larry, you traitor!”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things



“Carol turned around quickly as if stifling an urge to lunge at Max. He turned back to Max, straining to appear genial. "Okay," he said, "but will you come over here and put your head in my mouth again?"
Max continued to back up, "No, Carol. I don't want to right now.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from The Wild Things


About the author

Dave Eggers
Born place: in Boston, Massachusetts, The United States
Born date March 12, 1970
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“siblings between the ages of three and seven clash 3.5 times per hour, on average. Some of those are brief clashes, others longer, but it adds up to ten minutes of every hour spent arguing.”
― Po Bronson, quote from NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children


“But intellect can also reject what has happened. That is what is meant by having faith or not having faith. If you feel that what cannot be explained by the intellect does not exist, then you are a “nonbeliever.” Then you will continue in this lower existence of the intellect, tethered to it. Then you disallow mystery, then you disallow intuition to speak to you.”
― Osho, quote from Intuition: Knowing Beyond Logic


“Yippie ki-yay and all that shit"

- Desdemona Fox”
― Jonathan Maberry, quote from Dead of Night


“The world won't get more or less terrible if we're indoors somewhere with a mug of hot chocolate.”
― Kamila Shamsie, quote from Burnt Shadows


“I absolutely love you, Briony, and I am on my knees. So we're getting married - right? But say it fast before we get shot."
Only Jack would ask - if you could call it asking - in the middle of a battlefield, with a man lying dead at his feet.”
― Christine Feehan, quote from Conspiracy Game


Interesting books

The Body
(26.9K)
The Body
by Stephen King
Losing It
(93.8K)
Losing It
by Cora Carmack
The Clown
(15.4K)
The Clown
by Heinrich Böll
The Lover
(27.1K)
The Lover
by Marguerite Duras
Prince of Thorns
(70.2K)
Prince of Thorns
by Mark Lawrence
Ordeal
(112)
Ordeal
by Tatyana K. Varenko

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.