B Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with B. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“But he had been in love once, that he knew. Once and only once, and a long time ago. And it had changed him forever. Perfect love did that to a person and this had been perfect.”
Source: The Notebook
“But he had expressed to Mme. du Chatelet the hope that a way out might lie in applying philosophy to history, and endeavoring to trace, beneath the flux of political events, the history of the human mind. 'Only philosophers should write history,' he said. 'In all nations, history is disfigured by fable, till at last philosophy comes to enlighten man; and when it does finally arrive in the midst of darkness, it finds the human mind so blinded centuries of error, that it can hardly undeceive it; it finds ceremonies, facts and monuments, heaped up to prove lies.' 'History,' he concludes, 'is after all nothing but a pack of tricks which we play upon the dead;' we transform the past to suit our wishes for the future, and in the upshot 'history proves that anything can be proved by history.”
Source: The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
“But he had given up his book, and his love, and his child. How much can a man be asked to give up?”
Source: The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
“But he had gone his way, the grass all mown, And I must be, as he had been - alone, As all must be, I said within my heart, Whether they work together or apart.”
Source: The Collected Prose of Robert Frost
“But...he had had a long night, and it seemed a waste to force my story on him when he was half asleep.”
Source: Let It Snow
“But he had hardly felt the absurdity of those things, on the one hand, and the necessity of those others, on the other, (for it is rare that the feeling of absurdity is not followed by the feeling of necessity), when he felt the absurdity of those things of which he had just felt the necessity (for it is rare that the feeling of necessity is not followed by the feeling of absurdity.)”
Source: Watt
“But [he] had lost god, and all his family and friends were staying behind with his imaginary friend. A silly dream goes away and takes with it your whole real life.”
Source: God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales
“But he had never had a happiness of his own, never had himself: never since he was a little boy in the Forest Sauvage. It was not fair to steal away everything from him. They had made him like the blinded gold—finch they were speaking of, which was to pour out its song for man until it burst its heart, but always blind.”
Source: THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
“But he had no understanding of the virtues of moderation. He had the kind of generous nature that reckoned panic was not something you hoarded for yourself; you shared it with family.”
Source: Sons of Darkness
“But he had saved her. That was irrefutable. Maybe it didn't really matter why he'd come to Phillip's party, only that he had, and he had saved her.”
Source: An Offer From a Gentleman
“But he had to hold her, so he tucked the sheet around her neck and then wrapped an arm around her waist. And if the sobs escaped then, if the sheets grew salty and wet, there was no one to see them but the moon.”
Source: When Beauty Tamed the Beast
“But he had to think like a character in a Chekhov play, forever taunted by desires but trapped in a life much too small to accommodate the entirety of a human being. That was why Chekhov was eternally beloved.”
Source: Our Country Friends
“But he has been telling me about his scheme to furbish up the Dower House if you should not dislike it - and I can't think why you should, dearest, for he says the ghost is nothing more than Spurstow, trying to keep everyone away, which wouldn't surprise me in the least, for I always disliked that man, and even if there is a ghost, it cannot possibly be more disagreeable to live with than your grandfather!”
Source: The Unknown Ajax
“But he has gone, A nation's memory and veneration, Among the radiant, ever venturing on, Somewhere, with morning, as such spirits will.”
“But he hated to be sober. It made him conscious of the people around him, of that air of struggle, of greedy ambition, of hope more sordid than despair, of incessant passage up or down.”
“But he... he was the catalyst in a way. And I chose him. I chose him because he made me feel like I was something other than the Maiden, and he saw me when no one else ever really did. He made me feel alive. He valued me for who I am and didn't try to control me.”
Source: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
“But He Himself hath sealed your sufferings, and their thus saying condemns God, and His sealing condemns them.”
“But he is an Italian," was Umberto's sensible reply. "He doesn't care if you break some law a little bit, as long as you wear beautiful shoes. Are you wearing beautiful shoes? Are you wearing the shoes I gave you?...principessa?" I looked down at my flip-flops. "I guess I'm toast.”
Source: Juliet: A Novel
“But he is mine. Not mine in the true, real sense of the word. Mine in the purely delusional sense.”
Source: Icing Hearts
“but he is now so accustomed to seeing that vertical strip of light when he opens his eyes in the morning that he has reached the absurd conclusion that without it he would be trapped forever in the shadows of sleep, in the darkness of his own body and the darkness of the world.”
Source: The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
“But he is pretty. God, I hope he's not an asshole. Do you think there's any chance he's both non-orifice and single? I mean, seriously. What are the chances?”
“But he is product of a dislocated society; he is a dispossessed and disinherited man; he is all of this, and he lives amide the greatest plenty on earth and he is looking and feeling for a way out.”
Source: Native Son
“But He is risen, a later star of dawn.”
Source: The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth: Together with a Description of the Country of the Lakes in the North of England
“But he is something, he is something,” she cried, and her voice broke with anger. “He is far more than you think, you thing of the woods. You wait. Oh, he shall talk to you—I will ask him myself. You don't believe I love him, but you shall see you are mistaken. I will marry him; I will think of him night and day. Mark what I say: I love him. Let Eva come if she likes—hahaha! Heavens, let her come—it is less than nothing to me. And now let me get away from here...”
She began walking down the path from the hut; she took a few small hurried steps, turned round, her face still pale as death, and moaned: “And let me never see your face again.”
Source: Pan
“But he is still locked up.'
'Oh, child,' answered Mrs. Golden. 'That cage can't contain Sunny's spirit. It soars right out from behind those bars. That's what's important for all of us. To let our souls sing out.”
Source: Happy Birthday, Addy!: A Springtime Story
“But he is tired. He puts the pistol to his head again. He says, “I never asked to be born in the first place.”
Source: Timequake
“But he is unworthy the name of a minister of the gospel of peace, who is unwilling, not only to have his name cast out as evil, but also to die for the truths of the Lord Jesus.”
Source: Sermons on important subjects ... With a memoir of the Author by S. Drew; and a dissertation on his character, preaching, etc., by Joseph [or rather Josiah] Smith
“But he is wise who does not scorn any character, but, fixing a piercing eye on him, searches out his primary causes. Everything transforms quickly in man; before you can turn around, a horrible worm has grown inside him, despotically drawing all life's juices to itself.
And it has happened more than once that some passion, not a broad but a paltry little passion for some petty thing, has spread through one born for better deeds, making him forsake great and sacred duties and see the great and sacred in paltry baubles. Numberless as the sands of the sea are human passions, and no one resembles another, and all of them, base or beautiful, are at first obedient to man and only later become his dread rulers. Blessed is he who has chosen the most beautiful passion; his boundless bliss grows tenfold with every hour and minute, and he goes deeper and deeper into the infinite paradise of his soul. But there are passions that it is not for man to choose. They are born with him at the moment of his birth into this world, and he is not granted the power to refuse them. They are guided by a higher destiny, and they have in them something eternally calling, never ceasing throughout one's life. They are ordained to accomplish a great earthly pursuit: as a dark image, or as a bright apparition sweeping by, gladdening the world—it makes no difference, both are equally called forth for the good unknown to man.”
Source: Dead Souls
“But he keeps his heart free of any feelings of hatred.”
“But he kept finding new pockets of shallow inside himself. He kept finding new ways to betray her.”
Source: The Rainbow Rowell Collection: Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, Landline, and Carry On
“But he knew better than anyone that the bruises ran deeper than the skin. They ran all the way to your soul and left permanent splinters in your heart.”
Source: Deadly Illusion
“But he knew he didn't like Morrissey: he'd had enough misery already.”
Source: Under Country
“But he knew he had to live his life without being afraid to die. The cage had taught him that.”
Source: Flaco the Owl Spreads His Wings
“But he knew his Boss. One must never work full force for Stalin, never go all out. He did not tolerate the flat failure to carry out his orders, but he hated thoroughly successful performance because he saw in it a diminution of his own uniqueness. No one but himself must be able to do anything flawlessly.
So even when he seemed to be straining in harness, Abakumov was pulling at half-strength—and so was everyone else.
Just as King Midas turned everything to gold, Stalin turned everything to mediocrity.”
Source: The First Circle
“But he knew how to kiss a woman until she needed his kisses more than she needed to breathe. Until her bones melted. Until she gave him exactly what he wanted.”
Source: Sugared
“But he knew instinctively what he suggested was impossible. She'd been through so much, and held her tears back for so long, that Royce doubted that anything could force her to shed them.”
Source: A Kingdom of Dreams
“But he knew people and he was head writer for Have Gun Will Travel, and if you took those early Star Treks that we did and put us in a western wardrobe and put us on wagon train going west, we can say the same lines.”
“But he knew that he was in Daisy's house by a colossal accident. However glorious might be his future as Jay Gatsby, he was at present a penniless young man without a past, and at any moment the invisible cloak of his uniform might slip from his shoulders. So he made the most of his time. He took what he could get, ravenously and unscrupulously - eventually he took Daisy one still October night, took her because he had no real right to touch her hand”
“But he knew well enough that any man in the right circumstances could be dehumanised by panic.”
Source: 2001: A Space Odyssey
“But he knows, and I know, and you know, that any defence is only as strong as its weakest part: faith, belief, trust.”
Source: The Lightning Tower
“But he knows that no man is an island.”
“But he looks no more than thirty. He is very handsome - so much you will admit; nor will you deny that he is very wealthy and very powerful; the greatest nobleman in Britany. He will make me a great lady."
"God made you that, Aline.”
Source: Scaramouche
“But he looks no more than thirty. He's very handsome-- so much you will admit; nor will you deny that he is very wealthy and very powerful; the greatest nobleman in Brittany. He will make me a great lady.'
'God made you that, Aline.”
Source: Scaramouche
“But he made a compromise with his dreams and settled there. The work may not have been glamorous, but it paid.”
Source: The Midnight Library
“But he meant beauty in the sense of its organic connection to the material. And this is the connection that, for me, separates true stylists from decorators. The decorators are easy to recognize. That's why critics love them so.”
Source: Making Movies
“But he might have had a bang on the head!" said Joan. "Poor little boy, he thinks he was a rat!"
"Hmm," said the receptionist, and wrote rodent delusion on a pink slip of paper.”
Source: I Was a Rat!
“But he never exaggerates his difficulties and always tries to remain calm and he never judges someone else’s suffering. A small detail which does not affect him in the least could serve to ignite the storm brewing in his brothers soul.
The warrior respects the suffering of others and does not try to compare it to his own. The cup of suffering is not the same size for everyone.”
Source: Warrior of the Light
“But he never seemed to focus on what could turn out wrong. He only ever thought about how things could turn out right.”
Source: An Ember in the Ashes
“but he only found her in the image that saturated his private and terrible solitude.”
“But he place a gentle palm under her chin and turned her face back to him. “I'm privileged to see you like this,” he said, his eyes fierce. “Wear you social mask at your balls and parties and when you visit your friends out there, but when we are alone, just the two of us in here, promise me this: that you'll show me only your real face, no matter how ugly you might think it. That's our true intimacy, not sex, but the ability to be ourselves when we are together. (Winter Makepeace)”
Source: Thief of Shadows