Ten Favorite Book Quotes

I collect quotes like some people collect stamps or coins.  Often I found that someone else has said it better than I could and with that I present some of my favorite book quotes.


1.

"Freedom is an illusion. It always comes at a price."

— Jonathan Stroud (The Amulet of Samarkand)

2.

"It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things."

— Lemony Snicket (Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid)


3.

"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

— Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

4.

"Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can."

— Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic)

5.

"Touchstone watched, suddenly conscious that he probably only had five seconds left to be alone with Sabriel, to say something, to say anything. Perhaps the last five seconds they ever would have alone together.
I am not afraid, he said to himself.
'I love you," he whispered. "I hope you don't mind.'"

— Garth Nix (Sabriel)

6.

"To get something you must give something away.
To hold something you must give something away.
To love something you must give something away."

— David Levithan (The Realm of Possibility)

7.

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

— Douglas Adams (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

8.

"Everyone, at some point in their lives, wakes up in the middle of the night with the feeling that they are all alone in the world, and that nobody loves them now and that nobody will ever love them, and that they will never have a decent night's sleep again and will spend their lives wandering blearily around a loveless landscape, hoping desperately that their circumstances will improve, but suspecting, in their heart of hearts, that they will remain unloved forever. The best thing to do in these circumstances is to wake somebody else up, so that they can feel this way, too."

— Lemony Snicket (Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid)

9.

"Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free."

— Tom Robbins (Still Life with Woodpecker)

And last, I love this quote.  It is the most perfect quote about Louisiana weather I have ever seen.

10.

"Louisiana in September was like an obscene phone call from nature. The air - moist, sultry, secretive, and far from fresh - felt as if it were being exhaled into one's face. Sometimes it even sounded like heavy breathing."

— Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume)


cross-posted with The Little Bookworm