“You won't further the cause of human rights by walking away with your morals intact. Change is about getting your hand dirty.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“The halls are full of kids, scrawny ones and fat ones, cool ones and uncool ones, freaks and jocks, cheerleaders and dogs, burnouts and nerds. It’s like Berlin, divided, except there are more walls in this city, and they’re better guarded.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“That's the thing with the dead, they get to say nothing, forever.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“She was a real quiet woman. But maybe we just weren't listening.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“But there’s this thing in her voice, like what my mom called “doublespeak.” Saying one thing and meaning another. Aunt Nora told me it was leftover from English rule. She said, “That’s the only good thing to ever come of colonialism, Kevin. The Irish can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you look forward to the trip.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“Tis a child that dreams there’s something better ’round the corner. It’s a grown man who knows it’s right there in front of him.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“Any story worth telling is worth exaggerating.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“Smile and the world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“All it takes to make a new person is one night with some skank you hardly know. I mean, there I am, screwing her, and now there’s somebody like you or me on the way. It’s so fucking bizarre. You screw up one time and nine months later, bam! A new person.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“I wanna fuck all the time, I've never wanted a baby.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“Mom always used to say that stupid people have more nerve than brains.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“Jon’s brought a couple of bottles of Phillips peppermint schnapps to Van Cleve Park. The label says Enjoy in Moderation. Not much chance of that in this crowd.”
― Brian Malloy, quote from The Year of Ice
“It's hard to live a good life...It seems like the Devil don't ever let up.”
― Donald Ray Pollock, quote from The Devil All the Time
“Alric! Stop it!" Pickering snapped at him. "You mustn't let the men see you crying!"
Fury flared in Alric, and he spun on the count. "No? No? Look at them! They are dying for me. They are dying on my order! I say they do have a right to see their king! They all have a right to see their king!"
Alric wiped the tears from his cheeks and gathered his reins. "I'm tired of this. I'm tired of having my face put in the dirt! I won't stand it. I'm tired of being helpless. That's my city, built by my ancestors! If my people chose to fight, then, by Maribor, I want them to know it's me they fight!"
The prince put on his helm, drew his father's large sword and spurred his horse forward, not at the trench but at the castle gate itself.”
― Michael J. Sullivan, quote from The Crown Conspiracy
“Love doesn't think like that. All right, it's blind as a bat--'
'Bats have radar. Yours doesn't seem to be working.”
― Iris Murdoch, quote from The Sea, the Sea
“But no value has been put on human life; it is given to us free and taken without being paid for. What is it worth? If you look around, at times the value may seem to be little or nothing at all. Often after you have sweated and tried and things are not better for you, there comes a feeling deep down in the soul that you are not worth much.”
― Carson McCullers, quote from The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories
“Have a suitcase heart, be ready to travel.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, quote from Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
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.