Quotes from Vienna Prelude

“The seasons sang to him - like ageless hymns with whisperings he could feel, but not fully understand.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“This is me, God! Elisa. I once saw you in all the world. But the world is dark now, Lord. Full. Full of darkness. Close your eyes for a moment, God, and let me sing to you. Let me remember that you are here. Here in the notes. Smiling down as I play for you. Just this moment, God, let me sing to you. And maybe in the song, I will forget whether I am singing to you, or you are singing to me . . . ”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“The Reich may tell you whom you may love and whom you must hate. Oh, yes, Thomas, the Reich can dictate the inward life of every man."
"Not the inward life." Thomas looked up sharply. "Only the outward show.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“God sees when we do not see, ja?”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“Nobody liked Goring except Hitler and Goring.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“Tonight the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come marched in goose-step and raised a hand to salute "Heil Hitler!" Tonight the ghost wore a swastika on his armband instead of the simple red and white colors of Austria. And yet, on this silent night, the horrible specter seemed all but invisible in Vienna. Murphy could only wonder if he was the sole person at Sacher's who could hear the anthem of Hitler's hordes echoing distantly from beyond the mountains.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“Hot tears rolled from Herschel's eyes and he wiped them away, afraid that they would drip through the boards and onto his father's unfeeling tormentors.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“Elisa thought how empty the prayers sounded. The words rattled around in the ancient rafters and then returned to them like dead leaves falling from the trees. No life. No shade of hope. Only a cold wind that blew into their very souls.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“What miralces can there be when Germany has sold her soul?”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“You *forgot*? I will beat you with a good stout stick!”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“ . . . he thought how easy it would be to simply kick his typewriter onto the floor and smash it to pieces among the wads of discarded paper that overflowed his waste basket.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“He scowled at the typewriter, at the empty sheet of paper.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“This pursuit of Theo was not borne out of hatred for him as a man or a Jew. All of that was just an excuse - an excuse for lawless men to take what belonged to others. It seemed strange that those who served the Hitlers and the Himmlers and the Gorings believed constant lies. "The Jew is a misfortune." It was those little men in the service of greed who were the most violent, the most dedicated to the brutality of the racial policies. They murdered and terrorized for one reason only: because they could. They were the law of the lawlessness; the power of evil was their creed and their joy and their god!”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

“The English have a better idea of right and wrong. They still believe in hell, I think, and perhaps that keeps them from brutality. Germany has ceased to believe in hell. And so they create hell for innocent men and have no fear that they themselves will ever face condemnation. I tell you, Jacob,” the professor whispered to Theo, “Germany has sold its soul, and the fire it brings to the world will come back to itself. Hitler is Satan. Mein Kampf is his book of black magic. Germany is Faust. And the hour will come when . . .” His voice trailed off. “When what, Professor?” Theo asked, hoping the old man was not falling to sleep. “Like the Faust of Marlowe, Germany will watch the clock run out. And there will be no salvation.”
― Bodie Thoene, quote from Vienna Prelude

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Popular quotes

“someone you considered a friend will kick you to the curb because you stop hanging out so much with the fellas to be with your girlfriend. Prioritize your relationships and you will discover who your real friends are.”
― T.D. Jakes, quote from Destiny: Step into Your Purpose

“Tell me about Wales. I want to go to Wales with you one day."
And I smile and want to cry too. And I tell him about this special place in the mountains that I went to one summer: there was a small lake and I could climb the cliff behind it and dive into the water. And I tell him I'll take him there when the war's over.”
― Sally Green, quote from Half Lost

“—Y hay más. Tan pronto no van a cortar tu planta de naranja-lima. Cuando la corten estarás lejos y no sentirás nada.
Sollozando me abracé a sus rodillas.
—Ya no me interesa, papá. No me interesa…
Y mirando su rostro, que también se encontraba lleno de lágrimas, murmuré como un muerto:
—Ya la cortaron, papá, hace más de una semana que cortaron mi planta de naranja-lima.

Los años pasaron, mi querido Manuel Valadares. Hoy tengo cuarenta y ocho años y, a veces, en mi nostalgia, siento la impresión de que continúo siendo una criatura. Que en cualquier momento vas a aparecer trayéndome fotos de artistas de cine o más bolitas. Tú fuiste quien me enseñó la ternura de la vida, mi Portuga querido. Hoy soy yo el que tiene que distribuir las bolitas y las figuritas, porque la vida sin ternura no vale gran cosa. A veces soy feliz en mi ternura, a veces me engaño, lo que es más común.
En aquel tiempo… En el tiempo de nuestro tiempo no sabía que muchos años antes un Príncipe Idiota, arrodillado frente a un altar, preguntaba a los iconos, con los ojos llenos de lágrimas:

“¿POR QUÉ LES CUENTAN LAS COSAS A LAS CRIATURITAS?”

Y la verdad es, mi querido Portuga, que a mí me contaron las cosas demasiado pronto.
¡Adiós!”
― José Mauro de Vasconcelos, quote from My Sweet Orange Tree

“You know the old saying, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Well, if you always get out as soon as the kitchen gets hot, your life will end up half-baked.”
― Mark Goulston, quote from Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior

“Give me an honest con man any day.”
― J.D. Salinger, quote from J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey

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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.

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