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» Ship of Fools   »   » Oblivion   » One-liners from your favourite books. (Page 3)

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Source: (consider it) Thread: One-liners from your favourite books.
Gwai
Shipmate
# 11076

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I can't believe I haven't mentioned my favorite living writer here:

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I have burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the university at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. my name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.

From Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

--------------------
A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea.
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.


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Keren-Happuch

Ship's Eyeshadow
# 9818

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My all-time favourite lines are on here already (the opening of the Towers of Trebizond and the Saki one about the cook) but I've also always been fond of the opening of Through the Looking Glass:

quote:
One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it - it was the black kitten's fault entirely.
And then there's the one I had (part of) as my sig for a while:

quote:
"Well!" said Kanga, and Roo fell in quickly, crying "I must see Owl's sponge! Oh, there it is! Oh, Owl! Owl, it isn't a sponge, it's a spudge! Do you know what a spudge is, Owl? It's when your sponge gets all -" and Kanga said, "Roo, dear!" very quickly, because that's not the way to talk to anybody who can spell TUESDAY.
Mostly though, this thread is making me feel that I need to re-read some P.G. Wodehouse and all of Jane Austen. And I'm wondering why I've never read Chandler, and my to-be-read list is growing longer by the second!

--------------------
Travesty, treachery, betrayal!
EXCESS - The Art of Treason
Nea Fox

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no prophet's flag is set so...

Proceed to see sea
# 15560

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A few from Robertson Davies.

A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life. -What's Bred in the Bone

I wish people weren't so set on being themselves, when that means being a bastard. -The Rebel Angels

This is one of the cruelties of the theatre of life; we all think of ourselves as stars and rarely recognize it when we are indeed mere supporting characters or even supernumeraries.
-Fifth Business

--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/

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Golden Key
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quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
A fabulous bit of Graham Greene from Travels with my Aunt:

quote:
I sometimes believe in a Higher Power, even though I am a Catholic.

That's rather like Pres. Barlett's quip in the "West Wing" series: "I don't believe in God, and I believe that Mary is his mother."
[Big Grin]

--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")

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Golden Key
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# 1468

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The first line of Madeleine L'Engle's wonderful A Wrinkle In Time:

It was a dark and stormy night.

She made it work! [Smile] AWIT is a beloved children's classic.

--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")

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Huia
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# 3473

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She did indeed, but when it was published in Britain the first lines included the fact that it was set the USA, which, according to her autobiography, she was not happy about.

Madeleine L'Engle is one of my childhood favourites.

Huia

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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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Another online writer puts these words in a teacher's mouth:

quote:
Listen carefully. Differences are good. They're cause for celebration, not for bad feelings. Your parents send you here to expand your minds, not to narrow them. You should really try to honor their wishes.


--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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Moo

Ship's tough old bird
# 107

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Another from Winnie-the-Pooh

quote:
Piglet took Pooh's hand, in case Pooh was frightened.
Moo

--------------------
Kerygmania host
---------------------
See you later, alligator.

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Eigon
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# 4917

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"In the crypt of the Abbey Church at Hallowdene, the monks were boiling their Bishop...."

It's the first line of The Bone-Pedlar by Sylvian Hamilton, and the bishop was definitely dead before they started boiling him! (in order to send his bones home, as the body would have started to rot on the way). Sadly, Sylvian Hamilton wrote three very good medieval novels, and then died.

And, from American Gods by Neil Gaiman:

"What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore it knows it's not fooling a soul.”

--------------------
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.

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Garasu
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# 17152

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On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays it was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology.

White, T. H. (Terence Hanbury), 1906-1964. The sword in the stone.

--------------------
"Could I believe in the doctrine without believing in the deity?". - Modesitt, L. E., Jr., 1943- Imager.

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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Okay so I'm biased but I think this is an absolute gem from another online story, Mountain Magic by Sequoyah:

quote:
We were all standing around the table when Mrs. Dennison nodded and Mr. Dennison started praying. Hank once said one thing he liked about eating at our house was that Granddad gave God credit for having some sense. "He just says 'Thanks' and we get on with eating. Dad has to remind God of His responsibilities, I guess," and added, "He also carefully explains to God what He needs to do and exactly how to go about it. Treats God like He should be in Special Ed." Since then, every time we have supper at the Dennisons, we have to watch it to keep from laughing out loud at Mr. Dennison giving God His orders for the immediate and distant future.


--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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Leaf
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# 14169

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You might not expect to find a sharp comment about a clergyman in children's literature, let alone a book written in 1926, yet here it is, in Lucy Maud Montgomery's "The Blue Castle". Of the Rev. Dr. Stalling it is written:
quote:
"When he could not understand a thing, he straightaway condemned it. Simplicity itself!"
I have had cause to reflect on this over the years.
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Carex
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I had another occasion yesterday to remember a great line from Richard Bach's A Bridge Across Forever (from memory, so I might not have the wording quite right.)

After an extended "discussion" with his Significant Other,

In the end we compromised and did it her way.

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Mudfrog
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# 8116

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How about this from A Christmas Carol, referring to Scrooge:

quote:
He carried his own low temperature always about with him.
I have known people like that!

--------------------
"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton

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EtymologicalEvangelical
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# 15091

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quote:
The stub of the candle had long been guttering in its crooked candlestick within that wretched room, shedding its dim light on the murderer and the prostitute who had so strangely encountered each other in the reading of the eternal book.
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky

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You can argue with a man who says, 'Rice is unwholesome': but you neither can nor need argue with a man who says, 'Rice is unwholesome, but I'm not saying this is true'. CS Lewis

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Scots lass
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# 2699

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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Jestocost:
"It was the day my grandmother exploded."

The opening line of The Crow Road by Iain Banks.

Brilliant opening line, and one of my favourite books ever. I first read it when I was 16 and I still love it now I'm in my 30s, which cannot be said of many of the books I loved when I was 16...
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Keren-Happuch

Ship's Eyeshadow
# 9818

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quote:
Originally posted by EtymologicalEvangelical:
quote:
The stub of the candle had long been guttering in its crooked candlestick within that wretched room, shedding its dim light on the murderer and the prostitute who had so strangely encountered each other in the reading of the eternal book.
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky
In whose translation? After all, the translator wrote those English words.

--------------------
Travesty, treachery, betrayal!
EXCESS - The Art of Treason
Nea Fox

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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From Out of Bounds by Mike Seabrook:

quote:
And then, without any warning or preamble, he started to cry, a bitter spring of hot, painful tears. They were the last tears he ever shed as a boy, perhaps the first he ever shed as a man.


[ 23. September 2013, 12:44: Message edited by: Welease Woderwick ]

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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The line in my sig is from A maçã no escuro ("The Apple in the Dark") by Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector.

--------------------
I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)

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Piglet
Islander
# 11803

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Not exactly High Literature, but this put-down from one of Jilly Cooper's Rutshire books (I think it was Appassionata) always makes me smile:
quote:
"I think - " said Flora
"Don't," said Rannaldini icily, "you haven't got the equipment".



[ 23. September 2013, 14:44: Message edited by: piglet ]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

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Hedgehog

Ship's Shortstop
# 14125

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quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
Not exactly High Literature, but this put-down from one of Jilly Cooper's Rutshire books (I think it was Appassionata) always makes me smile:
quote:
"I think - " said Flora
"Don't," said Rannaldini icily, "you haven't got the equipment".


Actually, that sounds very familiar. Where have I heard it before? Oh, yes! Here it is:

quote:
“I think--” began Piglet nervously.
“Don’t,” said Eeyore.
--The House at Pooh Corner

[Big Grin]

--------------------
"We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it."--Pope Francis, Laudato Si'

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venbede
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# 16669

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They knew I was a Four on the Enneagram at my seminar when I was able to quote by heart the following from Jane Austen's juvenilia, Love and Freindship (sic).

"A sensibility too tremblingly alive to every affliction of my Friends, my Acquaintance and particularly to every affliction of my own, was my only fault, if a fault it could be called."

--------------------
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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"Gertrude DeMongmorenci McFiggin had known neither father nor mother. They had both died years before she was born. Of her mother she knew nothing, save that she was French, was extremely beautiful, and that all her ancestors and even her business acquaintances had perished in the Revolution."

Stephen Leacock 'Gertrude the Governess'

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anoesis
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# 14189

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The opening lines of 'The Glass Menagerie', by Tennessee Williams. Truly fabulous.

Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.

To begin with, I turn back time. I reverse it to that quaint period, the thirties, when the huge middle class of America was matriculating in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them, or they had failed their eyes, and so they were having their fingers pressed forcibly down on the fiery Braille alphabet of a dissolving economy.

In Spain there was revolution. Here there was only shouting and confusion.


--------------------
The history of humanity give one little hope that strength left to its own devices won't be abused. Indeed, it gives one little ground to think that strength would continue to exist if it were not abused. -- Dafyd --

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Lord Jestocost
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# 12909

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quote:
Originally posted by Hedgehog:
“I think--” began Piglet nervously.
“Don’t,” said Eeyore.
--The House at Pooh Corner [Big Grin]

A.A> Milne is another untapped vein, of course.

quote:
"Hello Rabbit, is that you?"
"Let's pretend it isn't", said Rabbit, "and see what happens."


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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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Having been prompted by this thread to reread Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle I came across this:

quote:
I shall go down and be very kind to everyone. Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.


--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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Cara
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# 16966

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YES, WW!! Wonderful line.

Actually this very sentence was mentioned upthread by Earwig in response to my posting of the book's first line, but no reason why it shouldn't have a post all of its own.

Hope you are enjoying the re-read (and the wrist is healing...)

Hot baths are (to quote someone else but I don't know who) a real benison. But only those of a certain age who grew up in chilly, non-centrally-heated ramshackle English houses can really understand this...

--------------------
Pondering.

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Kaplan Corday
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# 16119

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quote:
Originally posted by anoesis:
The opening lines of 'The Glass Menagerie', by Tennessee Williams. Truly fabulous.

Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.

To begin with, I turn back time. I reverse it to that quaint period, the thirties, when the huge middle class of America was matriculating in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them, or they had failed their eyes, and so they were having their fingers pressed forcibly down on the fiery Braille alphabet of a dissolving economy.

In Spain there was revolution. Here there was only shouting and confusion.

Reminds me of a favourite quote from Philp Roth's story Epstein, in which the character Epstein describes his daughter's boyfriend:-


Lou Epstein had never resembled that chinless, lazy, smart-alec whose living was earned singing folk songs in a saloon, and who once had asked Epstein if it hadn’t been “thrilling” to have lived through “a period of great social upheaval” like the thirties.

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Piglet
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# 11803

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quote:
Originally posted by Hedgehog:
quote:
“I think--” began Piglet nervously.
“Don’t,” said Eeyore.
--The House at Pooh Corner


Thanks, Hedgehog - I suspect Jolly Jilly may have been inspired by the great A. A.

[Big Grin]

--------------------
I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music

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Mama Thomas
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# 10170

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Hope I'm remembering this correctly because Google seems to have no knowledge of it, but I love this line from Ulysses (I think).

The sound of the peal of the hour of the night by the chimes of the bells of the church of saint George

--------------------
All hearts are open, all desires known

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Eigon
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# 4917

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“What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore it knows it's not fooling a soul.”
It's from American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

--------------------
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.

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Makepiece
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# 10454

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'We often hear military experts inculcate the doctrine of giving priority to the decisive theatre. There is a lot in this. But in war this principle, like all others, is governed by facts and circumstances; otherwise strategy would be too easy. It would become a drill-book and not an art; it would depend on rules and not on an instructed and fortunate judgement of the proportions of an ever-changing scene'.

From the Grand Alliance (Vol 3 WW2) by Winston Churchill.

--------------------
Don't ask for whom the bell tolls...

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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Virtually anything in Three Men in a Boat, quite probably the funniest book of the 19th century, especially the episode of the pineapple tin. I have a first edition and I recommend you lot read it yourselves! Mine is even illustrated!

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Writing is currently my hobby, not yet my profession.

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Chamois
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# 16204

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"Michael was usually attired in the height of fashion, with a certain mercantile brilliancy best described as stylish; nor could anything be said against him, as a rule, but that he looked a trifle too like a wedding guest to be quite a gentleman"

From The Wrong Box which also has to be a strong candidate for the funniest book of the 19th century (although I like Three Men in a Boat ), too.

The ending is perfect - I won't spoil it by quoting it here.

--------------------
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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'Bernard always had a few prayers in the hall and some whiskey afterwards as he was rarther pious but Mr Salteena was not very adicted to prayers so he marched up to bed. Ethel stayed as she thourght it would be a good thing. The butler came in as he was a very holy man and Bernard piously said the Our Father and a very good hymm called I will keep my anger down and a Decad of the Rosary.'

Daisy Ashford: The Young Visitors

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Penny S
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# 14768

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The one line comes part way through this, but you need the run up to it. It is in "Jennings Goes to School" by Anthony Buckeridge. The teacher, Mr Wilkins, is demonstrating the fire escape,a sling system (these actually exist - I saw one at an adult education centre.)
quote:
"Sticking out of this hole ... is a strap, or sling, which goes underneath your armpits. And this-er-gadget here is an adjustable-er-adjuster which you move up and down if you want to adjust it. In other words..." he sought in vain for the correct technical term. "In other words, it's adjustable."
"What's it just able to do, sir" inquired Venables innocently.
"I didn't say it was just able to do anything."
"Well, what's the good of it then, sir, if it doesn't do anything?"


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Ariel
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# 58

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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Daisy Ashford: The Young Visitors

Wonderful book.

"I say said Mr Salteena excitedly I have had some tea in bed."

"Yes I am nearly ready said Ethel I had a bath last night so I wont wash very much now."

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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204

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quote:
"If he's really moving on towards emotional maturity he won't be having a reconciliation with a woman who merely replaced a teddy bear in his affections"
The Wonder Worker by Susan Howarth. Her books are full of great one-liners but this is one of my favourites.
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ArachnidinElmet
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# 17346

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"She looks up at Anthony,
thinking how, if he knew,
if he had any idea,
then the soil of her Eden
could be ripped away
leaving her alone
on this unforgiving rock.
The secret must stay
and - according to the scientists -
the love will live.
The heart is quite comfortable with secrets."

Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

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'If a pleasant, straight-forward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres' - Kafka

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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Another online one, this from Sequoyah's Summerfire:

quote:
I guess time is a thief.......it steals what you love but memories hold them for you till you're ready to let them go.


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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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That attribution is wronger than a wrong thing - it is actually by Grasshopper.

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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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Lord Jestocost
Shipmate
# 12909

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For some reason I woke up with a couple of quotes form Perelandra going through my head.

First, when Ransom confronts Weston, a.k.a. the Devil:

quote:

Weston - "Do you not know who I am?".
Ransom - "I know what you are. Which of them doesn't matter"

And second, when Ransom finishes him off with a big, heavy stone:

quote:

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, here goes ... I mean, Amen."


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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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I am just reading another story online and this line resonates:

quote:
You know what the worst thing is, the very worst thing, in the morning? Cheerfulness. It’s awful.
Preach it, brother!

--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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Moo

Ship's tough old bird
# 107

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From one of Saki's stories
quote:
Each feels that she has nurtured a viper in her bosom. Nothing fans the flame of human resentment so much as the discovery that one's bosom has been utilized as a snake sanitarium.
Moo

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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.

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Mr Curly

Off to Curly Flat
# 5518

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More Hitchhikers:

Arthur Dent: You know, it's at times like this, when I'm locked in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young!
Ford Prefect: Why? What did she say?
Arthur Dent: I don't know! I didn't listen!

mr curly

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My Blog - Writing, Film, Other Stuff

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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From India by Sanjeev Bhaskar when he was asked by a school teacher why Asians smell so funny:

quote:
"Oh, it's something you would be unfamiliar with Miss, it's called soap." One of the detentions I ever got.


--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338

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quote:
He said tha, by God, D H Lawrence was right when he said there must be a dumb, dark, dull, bitter belly-tension between a man and a womanm and how else could this be achieved save in the long monotony of marriage?
from Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet

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Beautiful Dreamer
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# 10880

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The play Cyrano de Bergerac has kind of a special meaning for me:


"Yes, what my life was for
was to be the one who prompts – and is ignored!"


-being the shy kid in the back while others got the spotlight, although I didn't really mind. Plus there have been a few occasions where I have "played Cyrano"-I've written letters, given words and talked to guys for my prettier friends.

There was one college incident in particular that was a lot like the play...a much-prettier friend of mine and I met a guy...my friend liked him but had no idea what to say to him, so she had me talk to him for her, sort of like the scene in the garden*...we ended up liking each other, but I was dating someone at the time, so nothing happened...fast forward a few months, I was single so something could have possibly happened, but the opportunity had passed. Kind of like how, when Roxane finally figured out who was saying all those things to her, he's about to die.

" Physicist, metaphysician/poet/duellist and musician
and voyager to the heavens, master of how to answer back/A lover too, but not to his gain!
Here lies Hercule Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac,/who was all things, and all in vain."



*I've always wondered...how is it that Roxane didn't notice that the voice had changed when Cyrano took over for Christian during that scene?

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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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Apologies to the Hosts if this qualifies as Thread Necrmancy but I've just read this online and thought I'd share it - it is an Imam speaking to a Jewish teenager:

quote:
What I’m getting at is that there truly is one God, and I’d be a fool to believe that he would create only one true and just path to seek his good graces.


--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Athrawes
Ship's parrot
# 9594

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I have just been reminded of this lovely observation from Lindsey Davis' "The Silver Pigs"

Vespasian's banquets were very old fashioned. The waitresses kept all their clothes on and he never poisoned the food.

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Explaining why is going to need a moment, since along the way we must take in the Ancient Greeks, the study of birds, witchcraft, 19thC Vaudeville and the history of baseball. Michael Quinion.

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