Quotes from Through a Glass, Darkly

“(As human beings) We see everything everything in a glass, darkly. Sometimes we can peer through the glass and catch a glimpse of what is on the other side. If we were to polish the glass clean, we'd see much more. But then we would no longer see ourselves.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“All stars fall at some time. But a star is only a tiny spark from the great beacon in the sky.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Don't you think it's a small mystery that birds can twitter so loudly that they can hear each other's song from several miles away? Those tiny bundles are like living flutes, playing non-stop on themselves.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“I wonder whether the Christmas feeling has anything to do with the sixth sense. Perhaps we're a little more the angels at Christmas than we are during the rest of the year. And Christmas is about all the other senses. I can smell Christmas, I can taste Christmas, and I can see and hear it.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“is it true that sometimes you're so suspicious, you turn quite black inside?”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Alle stjerner falder en dag. Men en stjerne er kun en lille gnist fra det store bål på himlen.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Når jeg dør, brister en sølvstreng med glatte perler, som triller gennem landet og løber hjem til muslingemødrene på havets bund.
Hvem vil dykke efter mine perler, når jeg er borte? Hvem vil vide, at det var mine? Hvem kan gætte, at hele verden engang har hængt om min hals?”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Hvis jeg skulle tegne noget, og jeg vidste, at det, jeg tegnede, ville blive levende, når tegningen var færdig, så ville jeg ikke have turdet tegne noget som helst. Jeg ville aldrig have vovet at give liv til noget, som ikke kunne forsvare sig mod alle de ivrige farveblyanter.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Perhaps we're sad when something's beautiful because we know it won't last forever.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Tu ai trup de animal, dar suflet de înger!”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Banyak orang sangat menderita, sehingga mungkin mereka sudah mati karena kesedihan seandainya saja mereka tidak memimpikan sesuatu yang indah di sela-sela penderitaan mereka.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Jika kita menggosok cermin itu sebersih-bersihnya, kita akan melihat lebih banyak lagi. Tapi, kita tak bisa lagi melihat diri kita sendiri.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Widzimy wszystko jakby w zwierciadle, niejasno. Czasami możemy zajrzeć przez lustro i zobaczyć odrobinę tego, co jest po drugiej stronie. Gdybyśmy całkiem wyczyścili zwierciadło, zobaczylibyśmy o wiele więcej. Ale wtedy nie moglibyśmy już widzieć siebie...”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Ce ne sont pas les enfants chéris qui reçoivent beaucoup de noms. Ce sont les enfants trouvés à qui l'on donne plusieurs noms. Ceux que l'on trouve sur les marches d'un escalier. Ceux dont on ignore les origines. Ceux qui flottent dans le vide.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“Toutes les étoiles finissent un jour par mourir. Mais une étoile est une petite étincelle du grand feu de joie allumé dans le ciel.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

“I am here only this once. And I shall never return.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Through a Glass, Darkly

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Popular quotes

“No. It was neither heroes nor sacrifice nor yet virtues that she loved most; rather the poetry which spoke to her of dreams that were either fulfilled to no purpose or never fulfilled at all; of happiness that came as a visitor or did not come, of how it came and went, or of how it never came. She saw and understood this man, not in an objective way, but in her own way: in the lambent colours of poetry, with woods in the background, and penetrating everything, the roar of the world's deepest and mightiest river.”
― Halldór Kiljan Laxness, quote from Independent People

“Some people
Never find the right kind of love
you know, the kind that steals
your breath away.
Like diving into a snowmelt.
The kind that jolts your heart,
sets it beating apace.
An anxious hiccuping of hummingbirds wings.
The kind that makes every terrible minute apart feel like hours.
Days.
Years.
Some people flit from one insane possibility to the next.
Never experincing the connection of two people.
rocked by destiny.
Never knowing what it means to love someone else,
more than themselves.
More than life itself, or the promise of something better.
Beyond this world,
More even (forgive me!) than god.
Lucky me, I found the right kind of love.
With the wrong person.”
― Ellen Hopkins, quote from Tricks

“Flawed, we're truly interesting, truly memorable, and yes, truly beautiful.”
― Justina Chen, quote from North of Beautiful

“And there it is, against all hope, like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds. The smallest hint of a smile.”
― Amie Kaufman, quote from These Broken Stars

“Tom envied him with a heartbreaking surge of envy and self-pity.”
― Patricia Highsmith, quote from The Talented Mr. Ripley

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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.