“Some guys-- a lot of guys---don't believe what they are seeing, especially if it gets in the way of what they eat or drink or think or believe. Me, I don't believe in God. But if I saw him, I would. I wouldn't just go around saying 'Jesus, that was a great special effect.' The definition of an asshole is a guy who doesn't believe what he's seeing. And you can quote me.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“In many ways the world is nothing but a pile of shit. But it can also be very beautiful.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“But it's hard for a man to give up all his pleasures, even when they don't pleasure him no more.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“The definition of an asshole is a guy who doesn't believe what he's seeing.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“You were starting to sound a little like a Stephen King novel for a while there,”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“sure, we need the gypsies. we always have. because if you don't have someone to run out of town once in a while, how are you going to know you yourself belong there?”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“Things hurt more when you were alone, that was all.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“Pues bien, existe otra cosa en la que creo, William. Creo en lo que veo.
Y ésa es la razón de que sea un hombre relativamente rico. Y también
es el motivo de que sea un hombre vivo. La mayoría de la gente no cree
lo que ve. Yo no creo en Dios. Pero si le viese, creería. No iría por
ahí diciendo: Jesús vaya un efecto especial más estupendo. La definición
de imbécil es un tipo que no cree en lo que ve”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“You were starting to sound a little like a Stephen King novel”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“It just...it seems hard to say anything that isn't the wrong thing.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“Sometimes the gods give you a break.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“If you think someone is seriously on the prod for your ass, it keeps you awake.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“I feel that if I’m going through this hellish decline, you should be going through one also . . . misery loves company, and I guess we’ve all got a streak of one hundred percent gold-plated bastard in our natures, tangled up so tightly with the good part of us that we can never get free of it.”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“A vida inteira ele viveu perambulando, mandado embora de um lugar, assim que a "gente fina" comprava toda a maconha ou haxixe que quisesse, assim que houvesse perdido na roda da fortuna todas as moedas que queria. A vida inteira ele se ouviu sendo chamado de cigano sujo. A "gente fina" cria raízes; ele não tem nenhuma. Esse sujeito, Halleck, viu tendas de lona serem incendiadas por brincadeira, nos anos 30 e 40, e talvez houvesse bebês e velhos incendiados em algumas daquelas tendas. Ele viu suas filhas ou as filhas dos amigos serem atacadas, talvez violentadas, porque toda aquela "gente fina" sabe que ciganos trepam como coelhos e que um pouco mais não fará diferença — mas mesmo que faça, quem se importa? Ele talvez tenha visto seus filhos ou os filhos dos amigos serem surrados até quase a morte... e por quê? Porque os pais dos garotos que os surraram perderam algum dinheiro nos jogos de azar. É sempre a mesma coisa: você chega na cidade, a "gente fina" fica com o que quer e depois o manda embora. Às vezes, essa "gente fina" o condena a uma semana de trabalho na fazenda local de ervilhas ou um mês entre os trabalhadores da estrada local, como medida de ensinamento. E então, Halleck, para o cúmulo das coisas, vem o estalo final do chicote. O importante advogado de três queixos e bochechas de buldogue atropela e mata sua esposa na rua. Ela tem 70, 75 anos, é meio cega, talvez apenas se aventure no meio da rua depressa demais por querer voltar para sua gente antes de se mijar nas roupas — e ossos velhos quebram fácil, ossos velhos são como vidro, e você fica por ali, pensando que desta vez, apenas desta vez, haverá um pouco de justiça... um instante de justiça, como indenização por toda uma vida de miséria e...”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“Because if you don't have someone to run out of town once in a while, how are you going to know you yourself belong there?”
― Richard Bachman, quote from Thinner
“What we, or at at any rate what I, refer to confidently as memory- meaning a moment, a scene, a fact that has been subjected to a fixative and thereby rescued from oblivion- is really a form of storytelling that goes on continually in the mind and often changes with the telling. Too many conflicting emotional interests are involved for the life ever to be wholly acceptable, and possibly it is the work of the storyteller to rearrange things so that they conform to this end. In any case, in talking about the past we lie with every breath we draw.”
― William Maxwell, quote from So Long, See You Tomorrow
“found Rolly in his office, sitting at his computer, staring at something on the monitor. He pointed at the screen. “They want more testing. Pretty soon, we won’t have any time to teach them anything. We’ll just test them from the moment they get here to the moment they go home.”
― Linwood Barclay, quote from No Time for Goodbye
“I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed. And then? I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed. And what next? I get laid, I take a short holiday, but very soon after I fall upon those same thorns with gratification in pain, or suffering in joy - who knows what the mixture is! What good, what lasting good is there in me? Is there nothing else between birth and death but what I can get out of this perversity - only a favorable balance of disorderly emotions? No freedom? Only impulses? And what about all the good I have in my heart - does it mean anything? Is it simply a joke? A false hope that makes a man feel the illusion of worth? And so he goes on with his struggles. But this good is no phony. I know it isn't. I swear it.”
― Saul Bellow, quote from Herzog
“I'm not staring. I'm observing. . . . And what do you observe? . . . A brave young woman who has always fought for what was right, even when it was unpopular.”
― Michelle Moran, quote from Cleopatra's Daughter
“Il faut éviter de penser à ces difficultés que présente le monde. Sans ça, il deviendrait tout à fait irrespirable.”
― Marguerite Duras, quote from Hiroshima Mon Amour
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.