Quotes

Words worth keeping

2,684 quotes — from Indian and world voices, in English, Hindi and Urdu — while our publisher catalog grows.

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Self & Identity

If you want to be happy, be.

— Tolstoy Leo
Inspirational

The unhappiest people in this world, are those who care the most about what other people think.

— C. JoyBell C.
Inspirational Life Freedom

I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

— Pablo Neruda
Love

Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.

— Haruki Murakami
Time

The thing I realize is, that it's not what you take, it's what you leave.

— Jennifer Niven
General

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

— Robert Frost
Books & Writing

If Peeta and I were both to die, or they thought we were....My fingers fumble with the pouch on my belt, freeing it. Peeta sees it and his hand clamps on my wrist. "No, I won't let you." "Trust me," I whisper. He holds my gaze for a long moment then lets go. I loosen the top of the pouch and pour a few spoonfuls of berries into his palm. Then I fill my own. "On the count of three?" Peeta leans down and kisses me once, very gently. "The count of three," he says. We stand, our backs pressed together, our empty hands locked tight. "Hold them out. I want everyone to see," he says. I spread out my fingers, and the dark berries glisten in the sun. I give Peeta's hand one last squeeze as a signal, as a good-bye, and we begin counting. "One." Maybe I'm wrong. "Two." Maybe they don't care if we both die. "Three!" It's too late to change my mind. I lift my hand to my mouth taking one last look at the world. The berries have just passed my lips when the trumpets begin to blare. The frantic voice of Claudius Templesmith shouts above them. "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you - the tributes of District 12!

— Suzanne Collins
General

It crosses my mind that Cinna's calm and normal demeanor masks a complete madman.

— Suzanne Collins
Humor

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

— Plato
Philosophy Education & Knowledge

When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?

— Virginia Woolf
Life

Maybe there were people who lived those lives. Maybe this girl was one of them. But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.

— Leigh Bardugo
General

This is how it works. I love the people in my life, and I do for my friends whatever they need me to do for them, again and again, as many times as is necessary. For example, in your case you always forgot who you are and how much you're loved. So what I do for you as your friend is remind you who you are and tell you how much I love you. And this isn't any kind of burden for me, because I love who you are very much. Every time I remind you, I get to remember with you, which is my pleasure.

— James Lecesne
Friendship

I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.

— C. S. Lewis
General

The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.

— Napoleon Hill
Inspirational

World quotes adapted from the Abirate/english_quotes dataset (CC BY 4.0). Indian-figure and Hindi/Urdu quotes are a curated compilation of widely-attributed public sayings.