The Rise & Fall of Great Powers Quotes

“Books," he said, "are like mushrooms. They grow when you are not looking. Books increase by rule of compound interest: one interest leads to another interest, and this compounds into third. Next, you have so much interest there is no space in closet.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“People kept their books, she thought, not because they were likely to read them again but because these objects contained the past--the texture of being oneself at a particular place, at a particular time, each volume a piece of one's intellect, whether the work itself had been loved or despised or had induced a snooze on page forty.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“People kept their books, she thought, not because they were likely to read them again but because these objects contained the past—the texture of being oneself at a particular place, at a particular time, each volume a piece of one’s intellect, whether the work itself had been loved or despised or had induced a snooze on page forty.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“What strikes me,” Sarah continued, “is that men are such savages—they don’t fold their clothes, they pee on the toilet seat, they barely wash—yet when it comes to their views on women they’re suddenly so concerned about how everything looks. Each barbarian becomes an aesthete about the female body, all of a sudden expecting perfection.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“He was a man who formed opinions as he spoke them, or perhaps afterward, requiring him to ramble at length to grasp what he believed.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Remembering is the most overrated thing. Forgetting is far superior.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“The purpose of clothing, as best he could tell, was to keep one unembarrassed and at the right temperature. If an outfit served that purpose for a respectable period—twenty years, say—and at the lowest price available, then it was successful.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“In teen years, people yearned to be liked; in their twenties, to be impressive; in their thirties, to be needed”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“People did not see the world for what it was but for what they were.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“I wanted to show, as Tooly's life enfolds [in The Rise & Fall of Great Powers], how one's earliest stories condition how one encounters the world: what one expects of strangers, whether one counts on justice, whether one veers into cynicism or veers back again.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Xavi never did see the end of the Iraq War; he died at the peak of the pandemonium there, though he’d stopped caring, having receded from the world in stages: aware of just the hospice, then just his room, then his bed, then his body, then nothing.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Unlike in books, there was no concluding page on the Internet, just a limitless chain that left her tired, tense, up too late.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Venn was like a devilish older sibling, offering that brotherly combination of wholly unreliable and utterly trustworthy.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Books," he said, "are like mushrooms. They grow when you are not looking. Books increase by rule of compound interest one interest leads to another interest, and this compounds into third. Next you have so much interest there is no space in closet.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“تولی اسم هامفری را صفحهٔ اول همۀ کتاب‌ها نوشت، به این خیال که سال‌ها بعد غریبه‌ای کتاب را باز ‌کند و ‌ببیند رویش نوشته «هامفری اوستروپولر» و از خودش بپرسد این اسم از آنِ که بوده و چرا این کتاب را فروخته است. تولی فکر کرد آدم‌ها معمولاً کتاب‌هایشان را نگه می‌دارند، نه به این خاطر که شاید دوباره بخوانندشان، بلکه چون این اشیا حاوی گذشته‌اند، تار و پود خودشانند در یک مکان خاص، در یک زمان خاص؛ هر کتاب تکه‌ای از خرد فرد است، حالا چه کتاب را دوست داشته باشد، چه از آن خوشش نیامده باشد و فقط تا صفحۀ چهلمش پیش رفته باشد. ممکن است آدم‌ها توی سر خودشان به دام بیفتند، اما زندگی‌شان را صرف بیرون آمدن از آن اتاق دربسته می‌کنند. به همین خاطر هم بود که آدم‌ها بچه‌دار می‌شدند، وطن برایشان مهم می‌شد و بعد از یک سفر طولانی، هیچ‌چیز مثل تختخواب خودشان به آن‌ها نمی‌چسبید.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“I don't mind insanity, as long as it's reasonable.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“The relations that counted were those of choice, which made friendship the supreme bond, one that either party could sever, and all the more valuable for its precariousness.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Fogg’s most salient quality as an employee was his ability to be present while she fetched a sandwich. Beyond this, he contributed little that could be quantified.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Veto is like if you make big sandwich—careful and nice you make it—and I come over and eat sandwich. No question asked. This is how veto works.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Books increase by rule of compound interest: one interest leads to another interest, and this compounds into third.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Everyone’s their own nation, with their own blog. Because everybody has something important to say; everybody’s putting out press releases on what they ate for breakfast. It’s the era of self-importance.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Thought you were going to be in touch. Where were you?"

"Where? There aren't places anymore, duck," he responded. "No locations now, just individuals. You didn't hear? Everyone's their own nation, with their own blog. Because everybody has something important to say; everybody's putting out press releases on what they ate for breakfast. It's the era of self-importance. Everyone's their own world. Doesn't matter where people are. Or where I was."

"Nicely dodged.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“But is good to meet fellow intellectual," he continued. "I celebrate occasion with small drink. Unfortunate, I am impossibility to move."

"Why?"

"Because I find myself in sitting position.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Now I help you find her." He stood up from behind the table, smoothed down his tie. "I sit for too long. My leg goes to bed."

"To sleep?"

"Thank you, small person. At rare time, I am making mistake in English-language speaking, so thanks for accurate fixation. Now we find Sarah. You follow. Stay near. There are trivial beings everywhere.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Will you have kids?"
"You make such an attractive case for the reproductive plunge. I don't know, Duncan. Childhood is so exhausting."
"As a parent?"
"I mean as the child. Not sure it's fair to drop somebody else into life without giving them a choice in the matter."
"You'll find it's kind of tough to canvass the opinion of sperm."
"I prefer asking the eggs—they're more articulate. Anyway, aren't you the guy who's always bemoaning the future of humanity? Saying how the worst jerks always have millions of babies, meaning the world gets worse every generation?"
"Exactly why decent people need to have kids.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“People kept their books, she thought, not because they were likely to read them again but because these objects contained the past-the texture of being oneself at a particular place, at a particular time, each volume a piece of one's intellect, whether the work itself had been loved or despised or had induced a snooze on page forty.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“People, it turns out, aren’t a product of their own time. They’re a product of the time before theirs”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Who's Johnnie Walker?"
"It's a drink. For grown-ups."
"Is it nice?"
"Makes you drunk."
"What's it like being drunk?"
"Like being awake and asleep at the same time."
"Sounds nice."
"It was meant to sound terrible," he said looking down his glasses at her. "You get sick and stagger around. People actually vomit sometimes.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“He was a man who formed opinions as he spoke them, or perhaps afterward, requiring him to ramble at length to grasp what he believed. This made speech an act of discovery for him; others did not necessarily share this view.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

“Four years ago, he'd nearly married. But his girlfriend went to do theater in London and met a new man there. They'd stayed friends, till she sent photos of her newborn. "When you open the baby-photo email," Fogg said, "it's like your friends waving goodbye.”
― Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers