Quotes from Whale Talk

Chris Crutcher ·  224 pages

Rating: (9.8K votes)


“...racist thought and action says far more about the person they come from than the person they are directed at.”
― Chris Crutcher, quote from Whale Talk


“I walk outside and scream at the top of my lungs, and it maybe travels two blocks. A whale unleashes his cry, and it travels hundreds or even thousands of miles. Every whale in the ocean will at one time or another run into that song. And I figure whales probably don't edit. If they think it, they say it...Whale talk is the truth, and in a very short period of time, if you're a whale, you know exactly what it is to be you.”
― Chris Crutcher, quote from Whale Talk


“Adopted.
Big Deal; so was Superman”
― Chris Crutcher, quote from Whale Talk


“...the Magnificent Seven consisted of one swimmer of color, a representative from each extreme of the educational spectrum, a muscle man, a giant, a chameleon, and a one-legged psychopath. When I envision us walking seven abreast through the halls of Cutter High, decked out in the sacred blue and gold, my heart swells.”
― Chris Crutcher, quote from Whale Talk


“You have to see everyone in relationship to you. Just because you understand the shit in someone else's life doesn't mean you don't stand up for your own”
― Chris Crutcher, quote from Whale Talk



“He knew that we take what the universe gives us, and we either get the most out of it or we don’t, but in the end we all go out the same way.”
― Chris Crutcher, quote from Whale Talk


About the author

Chris Crutcher
Born place: in Dayton, Ohio, The United States
Born date July 7, 1946
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“One should never let sleeping dogs lie.”
― Ashwin Sanghi, quote from The Rozabal Line


“All right, Chief Killian." She allowed herself an airy gesture at the forward visual display. "That away—full military power.”
― David Weber, quote from On Basilisk Station


“There was a short railway official travelling up to the terminus, three fairly short market-gardeners picked up two stations afterwards, one very short widow lady going up from a small Essex town, and a very short Roman Catholic priest going up from a small Essex village. When it came to the last case, Valentin gave it up and almost laughed. The little priest was so much the essence of those Eastern flats; he had a face as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling; he had eyes as empty as the North Sea; he had several brown-paper parcels, which he was quite incapable of collecting. The Eucharistic Congress had doubtless sucked out of their local stagnation many such creatures, blind and helpless, like moles disinterred. Valentin was a skeptic in the severe style of France, and could have no love for priests. But he could have pity for them, and this one might have provoked pity in anybody. He had a large, shabby umbrella, which constantly fell on the floor. He did not seem to know which was the right end of his return ticket. He explained with a moon-calf simplicity to everybody in the carriage that he had to be careful, because he had something made of real silver "with blue stones" in one of his brown-paper parcels. His quaint blending of Essex flatness with saintly simplicity continuously amused the Frenchman till the priest arrived (somehow) at Tottenham with all his parcels, and came back for his umbrella.”
― G.K. Chesterton, quote from The Innocence of Father Brown


“You got to harden yourself. Make, like, a shell around you. But not everyone can do it. If they got nothing to hang on to some of them screw up. They’re not in the game no more.”
― Charlie Higson, quote from The Fallen


“It was the cocktail hour in Priss’s room at New York Hospital—terribly gay.”
― Mary McCarthy, quote from The Group


Interesting books

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story
(29.3K)
A Long Walk to Water...
by Linda Sue Park
The Queen of All that Dies
(7.7K)
The Queen of All tha...
by Laura Thalassa
Reign
(6.9K)
Reign
by Chanda Hahn
The Education of Henry Adams
(2.8K)
The Education of Hen...
by Henry Adams
Joseph and His Brothers
(1.3K)
Joseph and His Broth...
by Thomas Mann
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
(10.4K)
Kitty and the Dead M...
by Carrie Vaughn

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.