Quotes from Toby Alone

Timothée de Fombelle ·  392 pages

Rating: (2.2K votes)


“[Toby] reflected that being cruel sometimes makes you rich and powerful, but it always makes you ugly.”
― Timothée de Fombelle, quote from Toby Alone


“Little tree filled his lungs with the white airness of the night, as if he were going to fly.
The living voice of his parents. Elisha's eyes. These were reasons enough to set off on another adventure.
Reasons to be Toby Lolness again.”
― Timothée de Fombelle, quote from Toby Alone


“Quando un bambino di sette anni, isolato e sempre solo, scopre che a meno di una giornata di cammino c’è un altro bambino della sua età, è capace di tutto per trovarlo. È la magia della calamita, che i bambini conoscono bene.
E anche gli innamorati.”
― Timothée de Fombelle, quote from Toby Alone


“Ma quando si trovò a festeggiare il compimento del terzo giorno con un panino duro accompagnato da un piatto di muffa, e si rese conto che gli mancavano centodiciassette giorni da passare a quel modo, capì che non si vive soltanto di aria, acqua, calore, luce, cibo e consapevolezza del tempo.

Ma insomma, cos’aveva da lamentarsi? Cosa voleva ancora? Di cosa si vive, oltre che di tutte queste cose?

Si vive degli altri.

Questa fu la sua conclusione.”
― Timothée de Fombelle, quote from Toby Alone


“Cậu để lại trên mặt nước một cái vỏ sò nhỏ màu đỏ rực mà cậu nhặt được, rồi ra về. Mảnh sò trôi dần về phía Elisa. Cô bé cầm lên khi nó giạt vào những nếp gấp của chiếc váy bập bềnh trên mặt nước, tạo nên những mảnh lụa xanh trải rộng.”
― Timothée de Fombelle, quote from Toby Alone



About the author

Timothée de Fombelle
Born place: in Paris, France
Born date January 1, 1973
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Both Stoicism and Epicureanism—. the apathetic acceptance of defeat, and the effort to forget defeat in the arms of pleasure—were theories as to how one might yet be happy though subjugated or enslaved;”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers


“My mother had not let anything go. Inside that self we knew, which might at times appear blurred a bit, or sidetracked, she kept her younger selves strenuous and hopeful; scenes from the past were liable to pop up any time, like lantern slides, against the cluttered fabric of the present.”
― Alice Munro, quote from Lives of Girls and Women


“The Mongols loved competitions of all sorts, and they organized debates among rival religions the same way they organized wrestling matches. It began on a specific date with a panel of judges to oversee it. In this case Mongke Khan ordered them to debate before three judges: a Christian, a Muslim, and a Buddhist. A large audience assembled to watch the affair, which began with great seriousness and formality. An official lay down the strict rules by which Mongke wanted the debate to proceed: on pain of death “no one shall dare to speak words of contention.” Rubruck and the other Christians joined together in one team with the Muslims in an effort to refute the Buddhist doctrines. As these men gathered together in all their robes and regalia in the tents on the dusty plains of Mongolia, they were doing something that no other set of scholars or theologians had ever done in history. It is doubtful that representatives of so many types of Christianity had come to a single meeting, and certainly they had not debated, as equals, with representatives of the various Muslim and Buddhist faiths. The religious scholars had to compete on the basis of their beliefs and ideas, using no weapons or the authority of any ruler or army behind them. They could use only words and logic to test the ability of their ideas to persuade. In the initial round, Rubruck faced a Buddhist from North China who began by asking how the world was made and what happened to the soul after death. Rubruck countered that the Buddhist monk was asking the wrong questions; the first issue should be about God from whom all things flow. The umpires awarded the first points to Rubruck. Their debate ranged back and forth over the topics of evil versus good, God’s nature, what happens to the souls of animals, the existence of reincarnation, and whether God had created evil. As they debated, the clerics formed shifting coalitions among the various religions according to the topic. Between each round of wrestling, Mongol athletes would drink fermented mare’s milk; in keeping with that tradition, after each round of the debate, the learned men paused to drink deeply in preparation for the next match. No side seemed to convince the other of anything. Finally, as the effects of the alcohol became stronger, the Christians gave up trying to persuade anyone with logical arguments, and resorted to singing. The Muslims, who did not sing, responded by loudly reciting the Koran in an effort to drown out the Christians, and the Buddhists retreated into silent meditation. At the end of the debate, unable to convert or kill one another, they concluded the way most Mongol celebrations concluded, with everyone simply too drunk to continue.”
― Jack Weatherford, quote from Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World


“Books can ignite fires in your mind, because they carry ideas for kindling, and art for matches.”
― Gary D. Schmidt, quote from Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy


“I'm wearing clothes in my thoughts and dreams though. What am I wearing in yours?" she asked.

"Me."

Conversation between Mary Rose and Harrison in Julie Garwood's FOR THE ROSES”
― Julie Garwood, quote from For the Roses


Interesting books

The Distance Between Us
(51K)
The Distance Between...
by Kasie West
The Atlantis Complex
(44.9K)
The Atlantis Complex
by Eoin Colfer
Passion Unleashed
(31.2K)
Passion Unleashed
by Larissa Ione
A Dangerous Path
(30K)
A Dangerous Path
by Erin Hunter
Touch the Dark
(29.7K)
Touch the Dark
by Karen Chance
Foundation and Empire
(123.3K)
Foundation and Empir...
by Isaac Asimov

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.