Quotes from Un Lun Dun

“My dad hates umbrellas, said Deeba, swinging her own. When it rains he always says the same thing. 'I do not believe the presence of moisture in the air is sufficient reason to overturn society's usual sensible taboo against wielding spiked clubs at eye level.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“If you're brave enough to try, you might be able to catch a train from UnLondon to Parisn't, or No York, or Helsunki, or Lost Angeles, or Sans Francisco, or Hong Gone, or Romeless.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“...where's the skill in being a hero if you were always destined to do it?”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“I'm Margarita Staples." She bowed in her harness. "Extreme librarian. Bookaneer.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“So...I'm the funny one? I'm the funny sidekick?
.
.
.
That's no way to talk about anyone! To say they're just hangers-on to someone more important.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Were you terrified, Murgatroyd?" Murgatroyd nodded eagerly. "There you go, girl: You're a terrorist. You make me twitchy, and under Article Forty-One of the 2000 Terrorism Bill, that's all I need. Time for some reasonable force, I think.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Yeah, but where’s the skill in being a hero if you were always destined to do it?”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Is it dangerous? Hmm. Well, define 'dangerous.' Is a knife 'dangerous'? Is Russian roulette 'dangerous'? Is arsenic 'dangerous'? ...It really depends on your perspective.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“My job is never boring," Staples said. "There's nuts-and-bolts stuff like getting the tarpaulin over the shaft when it rains, and so in. Cataloging and reshelving. The shelves are in a shocking state. And when you've got everything ever written or lost to keep track of, it's quite a job. And there's fetching books.

"I used to really look forward to requests for books way down in the abyss. We'd all rope up, follow our lines down for miles. The order falls apart a way down but you learn to sniff out class-marks. Sometimes we'd be gone for weeks, fetching volumes.' She spoke with a faraway voice.

"There are risks. Hunters, animals, and accidents. Ropes that snap. Sometimes someone gets separated. Twenty years ago, I was in a group looking for a book someone had requested. I remember, it was called 'Oh, All Right Then': Bartleby Returns. We were led by Ptolemy Yes. He was the man taught me. Best librarian there's ever been, some say.

"Anyway, after weeks of searching, we ran out of food and had to turn back. No one likes it when we fail, so none of us were feeling great.

"We felt that much worse when we realized that we'd lost Ptolemy.

"Some people say he went off deliberately. That he couldn't bear not to find the book. That he's out there still in the Wordhoard Abyss, living off shelf-monkeys, looking. And that he'll be back one day, book in his hand.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Come on then," Deeba said. "We haven't got time to waste. You're not the ones who are going to get forgot in a few days' time if you don't phone home.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“You've met our guards." He gestured at the silent cylindrical guide. "The secret warriors: the binja.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Strictly speaking, she thought, this place was a cross between a forest and a jungle. “This is a jorest,” she said to Hemi. “Yeah,” he said. “No, it’s a fungle.” They grinned.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“A dark-windowed diesel train burst out of the building, close enough to make the bus shake. It helter-skeltered downward into the earth. “Where’s it going?” Zanna said. “Crossing the Odd, to some of the other abcities,” Jones said. “If you’re brave enough to try, you might be able to catch a train from UnLondon to Parisn’t, or No York, or Helsunki, or Lost Angeles, or Sans Francisco, or Hong Gone, or Romeless…It’s a terminus.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t take him for part-ghost—but you’d know he wanted to be somewhere else.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“I do not believe the presence of moisture in the air is sufficient reason to overturn society’s usual sensible taboo against wielding spiked clubs at eye level.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“UnLondon would have to look after itself. She wasn’t the Shwazzy. She was just someone. How could just someone be any help, whatever was going on?”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Easiest way is to bend over and say ‘car.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

“Pokud člověka mátlo pobývat v Přízrakově, kde ho obklopovali duchové předchozích forem, ocitnout se uvnitř této budovy mu vyrazilo dech.
Zdálo se, jako by se chodba stahovala a zužovala podle kolotání jejích duchů. Stěny byly ověšené osvědčeními a obrazy, které obklopovaly další v přízračné podobě. Kolem světel visely přízraky holých žárovek a složitých lustrů.
"Myslím, že hodím šavli," řekla Deeba.
"To je ti jenom duchno," poznamenal Hemi. "To se spraví.”
― China Miéville, quote from Un Lun Dun

About the author

Popular quotes

“It's okay. You're going to save me, Miss Maylene." The girl gave her a genuine look of happiness. "I know it. I knew if I found you everything would be okay.”
― Melissa Marr, quote from Graveminder

“Cameron tensed. “I suppose there’s getting-hurt danger, and then there’s the end-up-dead kind of danger,” he said shakily.
Julian was silent, his head still lowered as if he was afraid to look up.
Cameron drew his hand back, watching it tremble. “Is this… this fear, is it what you deal with every day?” It hurt. It scared him to think that Julian might live in fear day in and day out.
“Every day but Friday,” Julian answered without pause.”
― Madeleine Urban, quote from Warrior's Cross

“Theres something alluring and dangerous about him, but comforting and protective. When I think about him, my stomach knots, my heart rate quickens and...and I could go on... -Laney”
― Joann I. Martin Sowles, quote from Laney

“I was going to kill her. Murder, kill—and then for the kicker—unfriend her on Facebook.”
― Aaron M. Patterson, quote from Airel: The Awakening

“Because I liked you better than it suits a girl to say,
It irked you and I promised to throw the thought away
To put the world between us, we parted stiff and dry
'Goodbye' and you: 'Forget me'.
'No fear I will' said I.
Now here where clover whitens
The dead man's knoll you pass
And now tall flower to meet you
Starts in the trefoiled grass
Halt by the headstone naming the heart no longer stirred
And say the girl that loved you
Was one who kept her word.”
― Regina Doman, quote from Waking Rose

Interesting books

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.