Quotes from Ultraviolet

R.J. Anderson ·  415 pages

Rating: (8.6K votes)


“But there were worse things than disappointment, and I'd lived through several of them already.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I might not be ready to pour out my feelings to the world, but I’d had enough of trying to ignore them.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“What would happen if you stopped fighting, and gave yourself permission to feel? Not just the good things, but everything?”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“Dark chocolate, poured over velvet: that was how his voice tasted. I wanted him to follow me around and narrate the rest of my life.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet



“I disliked numbers, and they didn't think much of me either.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I heard the universe as an oratorio sung by a master choir of stars, accompanied by the orchestra of the planets and the percussion of satellites and moons. The aria they performed was a song to break the heart, full of tragic dissonance and deferred hope, and yet somewhere beneath it all was a piercing refrain of glory, glory, glory. And I sensed that not only the grand movements of the cosmos, but everything that had happened in my life, was a part of that song. Even the hurts that seemed most senseless, the mistakes I would have done anything to erase--nothing could make those things good, but good could still come out of them all the same, and in the end the oratorio would be no less beautiful for it.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“Every time you show your feelings, you apologize. Have you ever had an emotion in your life that you weren't ashamed of?”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“Everybody has a story, Alison," he said. "Everybody has things they need to hide--sometimes even from themselves.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose. And as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace note, I was not worthless. Nor was I alone.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet



“I caught Faraday's face between my hands and broke off the kiss, breathless.
"I've just thought of something," I said.
"Something we haven't tried."
"There's a lot of things we haven't tried," he said, "but I'm going to refrain from the obvious, and assume you're talking about the wormhole. What is it?”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I saw the whole universe laid out before me, a vast shining machine of indescribable beauty and complexity. Its design was too intricate for me to understand, and I knew I could never begin to grasp more than the smallest idea of its purpose. But I sensed that every part of it, from quark to quasar, was unique and - in some mysterious way - significant.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“So I pushed the bitterness down, into the black pit of my stomach along with my regret and my grief and my fear, and I said, "I'm fine. May i go now?”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“So I couldn’t talk about the color of three, or whether triangles tasted better than circles, or how playing Bach on my keyboard made fireworks go off in my head, because people would think I was crazy.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I sensed that not only the grand movements of the cosmos, but everything that had happened in my life, was a part of that song. Even the hurts that seemed most senseless, the mistakes I would have done anything to erase—nothing could make those things good, but good could still come out of them all the same, and in the end the oratorio would be no less beautiful for it.

I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose. And as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace note, I was not worthless. Nor was I alone.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet



“I'd finally reached the end of myself, all my self-reliance and denial and pride unraveling into nothingness, leaving only a blank Alison-shaped space behind. It was finished. I was done.
But just as I felt myself dissolving on the tide of my own self-condemnation, the dark waves receded, and I floated into a celestial calm.
I saw the whole universe laid out before me, a vast shining machine of indescribable beauty and complexity. Its design was too intricate for me to understand, and I knew I could never begin to grasp more than the smallest idea of its purpose. But I sensed that every part of it, from quark to quasar, was unique and - in some mysterious way - significant.
I heard the universe as an oratorio sung by a master choir of stars, accompanied by the orchestra of the planets and the percussion of satellites and moons. The aria they performed was a song to break the heart, full of tragic dissonance and deferred hope, and yet somewhere beneath it all was a peircing refrain of glory, glory, glory. And I sensed that not only the grand movements of the cosmos, but everything that had happened in my life, was a part of that song. Even the hurts that seemed most senseless, the mistakes I would have done anything to erase - nothing could make those things good, but good could still come out of them all the same, and in the end the oratorio would be no less beautiful for it.
I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose. And as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace not, I was not worthless. Nor was I alone.
God help me, I prayed as I gathered up my raw and weary sense, flung them into the wormhole -
And at last, found what I'd been looking for.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I was six years old, watching my pregnant mother wash the dishes. Cutlery clinked, filling the air with sparkling bursts of colour.
'Do it again!' I begged her, bouncing in my seat.
My mother glanced back at me. 'Do what?'
'Make the stars.'
'Stars?'
It never occurred to me that she couldn't' see what I was seeing. 'The gold ones', I said.
'I don't know what you're talking about.' she replied, and with a child's impatience, I hopped down from my stool to show her.
'Like this,' I said, taking two spoons and clanging them together. Each clink produced another starburst expanding luminous through the air between us.
'You mean,' said my mother slowly, 'the sound makes you think of the stars?'
'No, it makes the stars..”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“How are you doing?' 'I'm okay,' I replied, and it only made me feel a little queasy to say it. Maybe I was finally getting used to the taste of my own lies.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


“I looked up, into the muddy hazel eyes of the nicest man I would ever learn to hate.”
― R.J. Anderson, quote from Ultraviolet


Video

About the author

R.J. Anderson
Born place: in Kampala, Uganda
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Porque los hombres podían cerrar los ojos ante la grandeza, ante el horror, ante la belleza, y cerrar los oídos a las melodías o las palabras seductoras, pero no podían sustraerse al perfume. Porque el perfume era hermano del aliento. Con él se introducía en los hombres y si éstos querían vivir, tenían que respirarlo. Y una vez en su interior, el perfume iba directo al corazón y allí decidía de modo categórico entre inclinación y desprecio, aversión y atracción, amor y odio. Quien dominaba los olores, dominaba el corazón de los hombres.”
― Patrick Süskind, quote from Perfume: The Story of a Murderer


“Sweet dreams though the guns are booming.”
― Erich Maria Remarque, quote from All Quiet on the Western Front


“Plus, you're the last Dragomir. You're always going to be in the spotlight. Who’s she? Just another Ivashkov. There are tons of them.'
'Probably because all the guys like Adrian and have all sorts of illegitimate children.'
'Adrian doesn’t have any children.'
'That we know of,' I said mysteriously.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from Shadow Kiss


“Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don't go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don't try to get there at all. It'll happen when you're not looking for it. And don't talk too much about it even among yourselves. And don't mention it to anyone else unless you find that they've had adventures of the same sort themselves. What's that? How will you know? Oh, you'll know all right. Odd things, they say-even their looks-will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools."
-The Professor”
― C.S. Lewis, quote from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe


“A sad smile crossed her face, and I knew right then what she was trying to tell me. Her eyes never left mine as she finally said the words that numbed my soul.
I'm dying, Landon.”
― Nicholas Sparks, quote from A Walk to Remember


Interesting books

Sanctum
(9.9K)
Sanctum
by Sarah Fine
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
(4.2K)
The Essays of Warren...
by Warren Buffett
Hero
(15.7K)
Hero
by Perry Moore
Dead Simple
(13K)
Dead Simple
by Peter James
Haven
(9.9K)
Haven
by Kristi Cook
The English Teacher
(3K)
The English Teacher
by R.K. Narayan

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.