“...she had begun to learn that success was sometimes simply a matter of having the courage to proceed in the direction of one's dreams.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“When I was a child, I thought as a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child but when I grew up I put away childish things; for now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face!”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“Strange that one man's actions could touch so many other people, like a single, thoughtless breath of wind coming in an open window and blowing the playing cards every which way.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“Nature gives you the face you possess at twenty . . . Life the face you possess at thirty. But the face you have at fifty is the face you deserve.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“There is no weakness in crying. If we do not sorrow over what hurts us, how do we ever go past it? I have shed many a tear myself, Barbara Devane, over what life has brought me. Compassion can come from great pain, if you allow it. But compassion takes courage. Bitterness is easier.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“Change is an easy thing to decide and a difficult thing to do. It is the day-to-day struggle of it that defeats people. Do not despair if old ways look good to you. Despair only if you fall into them too often.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“In this life, many things happen in which we play a shameful part. Those of us who are strong forgive ourselves and go on. The weak wallow in their shame and allow it to devour them. There is no one of us without sin, child. There ought to be some comfort in that.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“Nature gives you the face you possess at twenty, she always quoted to her daughter Fanny. Life the face you possess at thirty. But the face you have at fifty is the face you deserve.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“What do you know of love? It comes from being with someone, from facing life together! Life in its awfulness as well as its joy! You love a handsome face. Nothing more!”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“She did not know yet know it, but her voice made her immediately sensual. Roger looked stunned, and Diana saw it. As inexperienced as she was, so did Barbara. The sudden admiration in his eyes was different from that of a few moments ago, when it had been man to child. His look was now man to woman, acknowledging a part of herself she did not yet know she possessed. And she smiled tenderly at him, her love on her face, because he was the first man to look at her so, and because he had been kind to her when she came in, and because she loved him, as she always had. And this time it was he who caught his breath, for when Barbara smiled, eyes were dazzled.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“The night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee…”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“The first is about forgiveness. It is never done well in little bits and dabs. Do it all at once and never look back, or do not do it at all.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
“And the second is about change. Change is an easy thing to decide and a difficult thing to do. It is the day–to–day struggle of it that defeats people. Do not despair if old ways look good to you. Despair only if you fall into them too often.”
― Karleen Koen, quote from Through a Glass Darkly
Karleen Koen
Born place: New York City, The United States
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“Back and forth from Brooklyn to Manhattan. New York at night, from its bridges, is a miracle. When I first came to the city, it took all my fantasies and set them on fire, turned them into flickering constellations of light. Then it did the same with my history. As a dark speck of energy hurtling over the water toward that galaxy, I felt myself disappear. Relative to the image of infinity I was nothing, a clump of quantum matter skidding through the ether. It was as good as any drug.”
― Melissa Febos, quote from Whip Smart: A Memoir
“Other than when I’m driving, I don’t try to look too far ahead, and once I got out, I never wanted to look back.”
― quote from Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption
“Nothing made sense to me anymore. I knew I was young, I knew I was small. But I was worried that I might already be ruined.”
― Augusten Burroughs, quote from A Wolf at the Table
“It was a lazy community of mutual disinterest and alcohol.”
― Ginn Hale, quote from Wicked Gentlemen
“My legs felt shaky and I gripped the back of Dad’s chair. The still images on the screen stared back at me. “Do you know what caused it?” I asked. No one said anything. I looked at Mom. “What triggered it?” “You did,” she said gently. “We think you’re the trigger.”
― Mara Purnhagen, quote from Past Midnight
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Ecology of a Cracker...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.
