Quotes from Zeitoun

Dave Eggers ·  342 pages

Rating: (62.4K votes)


“Be strong, be brave, be true. Endure.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“Yes, a dark time passed over this land, but now there is something like light.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“Every time a crime was committed by a Muslim, that person's faith was mentioned, regardless of its relevance. When a crime is committed by a Christian, do they mention his religion? ... When a crime is committed by a black man, it's mentioned in the first breath: 'An African American man was arrested today...' But what about German Americans? Anglo Americans? A white man robs a convenience store and do we hear he's of Scottish descent? In no other instance is the ancestry mentioned.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“What is building, and rebuilding and rebuilding again, but an act of faith?”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“If your hand doesn't work for it, your heart doesn't feel sorry for it.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun



“Then he got more books. He saved all the books.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“What would happen," Zeitoun asked the captain, "if you and I went below the deck, and just went to our bedrooms and went to sleep?"

The captain gave him a quizzical look and answered that the ship would most certainly hit something -- would run aground or into a reef. In any event, disaster.

"So without a captain, the ship cannot navigate."

"Yes," the captain said, "What's your point?"

Zeitoun smiled. "Look above you, at the stars and moon. How do the stars keep their place in the sky, how does the moon rotate around the earth, the earth around the sun? Who's navigating?"

The captain smiled at Zeitoun. He'd been led into a trap.

"Without someone guiding us," Zeitoun finished, "wouldn't the stars and moon fall to earth, wouldn't the oceans overrun the land? Any vessel, any carrier of humans, needs a captain, yes?"

The captain was taken with the beauty of the metaphor, and let his silence imply surrender.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“It only takes one person, one small act of stepping from the dark to the light.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“She felt some measure of relief knowing that in the very least, on the open road she would have some time to think.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“There is no faith like the faith of a builder of homes in coastal Louisiana”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun



“But when friends would ask Kathy whether they, too, should start their own business, she talked them out of it. You don’t run the business, she would say. The business runs you.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“Are the kids at school?"
"No, they're in the lake. My God.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“The country he had left thirty years ago had been a realistic place. There were political realities there, then and now, that precluded blind faith, that discouraged one from thinking that everything, always, would work out fairly and equitably. But he had come to believe such things in the United States. Things had worked out. Difficulties had been overcome. He had worked hard and achieved success. The machinery of government functioned.”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


“His frustration with some Americans was like that of a disappointed parent. He was so content in this country, so impressed with and loving of its opportunities, but then why, sometimes, did Americans fall short of their best selves?”
― Dave Eggers, quote from Zeitoun


About the author

Dave Eggers
Born place: in Boston, Massachusetts, The United States
Born date March 12, 1970
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“If we go now, there's no coming back. You're mine all night."
Her eyes flashed. "Promise?"
That was it.
Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her off the dance floor, toward the main entrance of the tent.”
― Julie James, quote from Something About You


“School is just like having a job. You have to show up, you have to do your work, and you have to be around tons of idiots or mean people. Now that I think about it, it's worse than having a job. At least there you get paid.”
― Elizabeth Scott, quote from Bloom


“I bow to the Captain—I think a curtsy would be a bit out of place here—and recite, in French, the little speech I had made up for these occasions to try to tone down my growing reputation as a bloodthirsty pirate. “I am Jacky La Faber. Perhaps you have heard of me. I am a privateer who takes ships and their cargoes, but I neither harm nor rob the crews or the passengers of the ships I seize, no matter what you may have heard. You and your men will be put in one of your lifeboats and allowed to return to France.”
― L.A. Meyer, quote from Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber


“And in that moment of sun and joy, Lupe knew why she loved and also hated Salvador. He gave her wings. He didn't try to lock her in, as had Jaime and the other boys she'd known. No, she could dream her wildest dreams with him and so she loved him for this; but she also hated him because it made her fearful. No one in her family was like this. They were always very cautious.”
― Victor Villaseñor, quote from Rain of Gold


“Of course you could do more - you can always do more, and you should do more - but still, the important things is to do what you can, whenever you can. You just do your best, and that's all you can do. Too many people use the excuse that they don't think they can do enough, so they decide they don't have to to do anything. There's never a good excuse for not doing anything - even if it's just to sign something, or send a small contribution, or invite a newly settled refugee family over for Thanksgiving.”
― Will Schwalbe, quote from The End of Your Life Book Club


Interesting books

The Spectacular Now
(37.4K)
The Spectacular Now
by Tim Tharp
Looking for Alibrandi
(18.4K)
Looking for Alibrand...
by Melina Marchetta
A Civil Campaign
(13.5K)
A Civil Campaign
by Lois McMaster Bujold
Half Broke Horses
(125K)
Half Broke Horses
by Jeannette Walls
Forever Odd
(62.3K)
Forever Odd
by Dean Koontz
Endless
(8.8K)
Endless
by Jessica Shirvington

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.