Quotes from Through a Glass, Darkly

Jostein Gaarder ·  176 pages

Rating: (5.8K votes)


“(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


About the author

Jostein Gaarder
Born place: in Oslo, Norway
Born date August 8, 1952
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“She felt the abyss of disenchantment.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from El amor en los tiempos del cólera


“Luck does not come around often. So when it does, be sure to take full advantage of it, even if it means working very hard. When luck is on your side it is not the time to be modest or timid. It is the time to go for the biggest success you can possibly achieve. That is the true meaning of thinking big.”
― Donald J. Trump, quote from Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life


“It was somehow easier to love a person who wasn't there.”
― Rhidian Brook, quote from The Aftermath


“«Regrets»... I regret how timid and meek I was back then... always telling myself that I couldn't do anything, never even daring to try. That's definitely something I regret. " (p.330)”
― quote from Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 1


“I would greatly prefer it if you didn’t put a bullet into my brain; it would complicate my plans for life, most of which involve not being dead.”
― Seanan McGuire, quote from Pocket Apocalypse


Interesting books

A Home at the End of the World
(15.6K)
A Home at the End of...
by Michael Cunningham
Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
(12.5K)
Billions & Billions:...
by Carl Sagan
The Definitive Book of Body Language
(17.9K)
The Definitive Book...
by Allan Pease
The Wake
(37.7K)
The Wake
by Neil Gaiman
Forward the Foundation
(36.7K)
Forward the Foundati...
by Isaac Asimov
Immortal Rider
(16K)
Immortal Rider
by Larissa Ione

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.