Quotes from Tongues of Serpents

Naomi Novik ·  274 pages

Rating: (12.3K votes)


“It seems to me after a fellow has been mutinied against three or four times, there is something to it besides bad luck.”
― Naomi Novik, quote from Tongues of Serpents


“If you will pardon my saying so," Tharkay said, "you will never satisfy them on that point: the last thing you or Temeraire will ever give anyone is quiet obedience. Have you considered it might be better not to try?”
― Naomi Novik, quote from Tongues of Serpents


“I don't like to be coarse, but if I did, I would be!
-Granby commenting on something Rankin has said.”
― Naomi Novik, quote from Tongues of Serpents


“I am sick of the quarrels of nations and kings, and I would not give a ha'pence for any empire other than our valley, if that can content your ambition.”
― Naomi Novik, quote from Tongues of Serpents


“I have never before considered the feelings of a cow. I suppose they must not care for us at all.’ ‘They are only dumb beasts,’ Laurence said, ‘and such thought surely beyond them. Any animal will defend its life and young, but that is not the same as being a thinking, reasoning creature.’ ‘Only, how could one be certain?’ Temeraire said. ‘After all, if one wishes to be particularly dull, one might be like that fellow Salcombe, and say that dragons are also dumb beasts. And I am quite sure the bunyips are not, though they do not seem to talk at all: they are only nasty thinking creatures. It is not very fair, though, that I should allow them to have sense because they will contrive one unpleasantness after another; what if cows are very clever, only they do not like to make a fuss about it?’ ‘If they dislike fuss enough to tolerate being eaten,’ Laurence said, with rather an amused expression, ‘surely it need not matter one way or another.’ ‘Perhaps they think they will be eaten anyway, as they are so delicious,”
― Naomi Novik, quote from Tongues of Serpents



About the author

Naomi Novik
Born place: New York, The United States
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“All you create is greater dispair in these girls' lives for you can't mourn the loss of something you never knew about in the first place.”
― N.G. Osborne, quote from Refuge


“There was this girl,” I said. "l mean-” All of a sudden I felt flustered, and added, ”We were just friends.”

”No such thing.”
”We were.”

”Look. Despite what you may have heard, people have sex all the time with people they don't love, or particulary care about, or sometimes can't even stand. So why in the world do people say that it's just friends, like it doesn't mean as much, if you're not having sex? Real friendship is true and forever and with all your heart. It's not Relationship Lite.”
― quote from A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend


“Christ is sufficient. We do not need "support groups" for each and every separate tribulation. The most widely divergent sorrows may all be taken to the foot of the same old rugged cross and find there cleansing, peace, and joy.”
― Elisabeth Elliot, quote from These Strange Ashes


“When crime was working as it was supposed to it was very dull. Very lucrative and very dull.”
― E.L. Doctorow, quote from Billy Bathgate


“Run all you want, Haddie,” he murmurs, his deep cadence a strong sound against the white noise around us, “but you’re going to find yourself all tangled up in those dangling ends you refuse to tie to something. . . . Who’s going to rescue you then?”
― K. Bromberg, quote from Slow Burn


Interesting books

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
(341.4K)
The Voyage of the Da...
by C.S. Lewis
To the Lighthouse
(102.3K)
To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf
I, Claudius
(44.7K)
I, Claudius
by Robert Graves
A Room with a View
(126.6K)
A Room with a View
by E.M. Forster
A Dance with Dragons
(454K)
A Dance with Dragons
by George R.R. Martin
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(310.6K)
I Know Why the Caged...
by Maya Angelou

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.