Paula > Paula's Quotes

“Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep—it can't be done abruptly.”
― Colm Tóibín

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”
― Robert Frost

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”
― Mark Twain

“Learn from yesterday, live for today and hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
― Albert Einstein

“Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can do what others can't”
― Jerry Rice

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

“Life has no remote....get up and change it yourself!”
― Mark A. Cooper, Operation Einstein

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”
― Will Rogers

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Spring comes into Massachusetts with her famous flame. God’s breath warming the winter out of things”
― Sebastian Barry, Days Without End

“She was a big blonde woman with more curves than the highway out front and just the right number of hills and valleys.”
― Max Allan Collins, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe: A Centennial Celebration

“We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Volume 1

“good number of people listened to, and wrote, music because they liked to hear the sound of mathematics.”
― Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

“Tough times don't last but tough people do”
― A.C Green

“Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”
― Mark Twain

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”
― Rudyard Kipling

“I’m not into all this academic stuff. Too much analysis. What ever happened to reading a book because you liked it?”
― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

“Buy an atlas and keep it by the bed—remember you can go anywhere.”
― Joanna Lumley

“All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.”
― Viet Thanh Nguyen

“There is an abiding beauty which may be appreciated by those who will see things as they are and who will ask for no reward except to see.”
― Vera Brittain

“No one would deny that all wars and battles are regrettable acts of human folly, causing unjustifiable agony and distress to combatants and non-combatants alike-but these considerations should not preclude their serious study, if only to avoid the mistakes of the past which make such tragedies inevitable.”
― David G. Chandler, GUIDE TO THE BATTLEFIELDS OF EUROPE

“CUSTOMER: Hi, I just wanted to ask: did Anne Frank ever write a sequel?
BOOKSELLER: ........
CUSTOMER: I really enjoyed her first book.
BOOKSELLER: Her diary?
CUSTOMER: Yes, the diary.
BOOKSELLER: Her diary wasn’t fictional.
CUSTOMER: Really?
BOOKSELLER: Yes... She really dies at the end – that’s why the diary finishes. She was taken to a concentration camp.
CUSTOMER: Oh... that’s terrible.
BOOKSELLER: Yes, it was awful -
CUSTOMER: I mean, it’s such a shame, you know? She was such a good writer.”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: I read a book in the sixties. I don’t remember the author, or the title. But it was green, and it made me laugh. Do you know which one I mean?”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: Which was the first Harry Potter book?
BOOKSELLER: The Philosopher’s Stone.
CUSTOMER: And the second?
BOOKSELLER: The Chamber of Secrets.
CUSTOMER: I’l take The Chamber of Secrets. I don’t want The Philosopher’s Stone.
BOOKSELLER: Have you already read that one?
CUSTOMER: No, but with series of books I always find they take a while to really get going. I don’t want to waste my time with the useless introductory stuff at the beginning.
BOOKSELLER: The story in Harry Potter actually starts right away. Personally, I do recommend that you start with the first book – and it’s very good.
CUSTOMER: Are you working on commission?
BOOKSELLER: No.
CUSTOMER: Right. How many books are there in total?
BOOKSELLER: Seven.
CUSTOMER: Exactly. I’m not going to waste my money on the first book when there are so many others to buy. I’l take the second one.
BOOKSELLER: . . . If you’re sure.
(One week later, the customer returns)
BOOKSELLER: Hi, did you want to buy a copy of The Prisoner of Azkaban?
CUSTOMER: What’s that?
BOOKSELLER: It’s the book after The Chamber of Secrets.
CUSTOMER: Oh, no, definitely not. I found that book far too confusing. I ask you, how on earth are children supposed to understand it if I can’t? I mean, who the heck is that Voldemort guy anyway? No. I’m not going to bother with the rest.
BOOKSELLER: . . .”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: Do you have this children's book I've heard about? It's supposed to be very good. It's called "Lionel Richie and the Wardrobe.”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: If I were to, say... meet the love of my life in this bookshop, what section do you think they would be standing in?”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: OK, so you want this book?
THEIR DAUGHTER: Yes!
CUSTOMER: Peter Pan?
THEIR DAUGHTER: Yes, please. Because he can fly.
CUSTOMER: Yes, he can - he's very good at flying.
THEIR DAUGHTER: Why can't I fly, daddy?
CUSTOMER: Because of evolution, sweetheart.”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: I’m always on night shift at work.
BOOKSELLER (jokingly): Is that why you’re buying so many vampire novels?
CUSTOMER (seriously): You can never be too prepared.”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“It makes me sad that grown up books don’t have pictures in them. You’re brought up with them when you’re younger, and then suddenly they’re all taken away.”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

“CUSTOMER: Hi.
BOOKSELLER: Hi there, how can I help?
CUSTOMER: Could you please explain Kindle to me.
BOOKSELLER: Sure. It’s an e-reader, which means you download books and read them on a small hand-held computer.
CUSTOMER: Oh OK, I see. So . . . this Kindle. Are the books on that paperback or hardback?”
― Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops