The Best Book Quotes of 2023
This is a collection of the best book quotes of 2023, including Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Happy Place by Emily Henry, Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, Weyward by Emilia Hart, In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune, and others.
Enjoy memories, yes, but don’t be a slave to who you wish you once had been. Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea
Sometimes life gives us the terrible gift of our own wishes come true. Holly Black, The Stolen Heir
Sometimes we don’t really know we’ve won until we see the reflection of that win in the loser’s eyes. Rachel Hawkins, The Villa
Perhaps it is always restful to be around someone who does not expect anything from you beyond what is in your nature. Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Maybe you need to stop retracing your footsteps. Maybe you need to try a new path. Stacy Willingham, All the Dangerous Things
Time only moves in one direction, no matter how hard we wish it wasn’t so. Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House
Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else. Lauren Asher, Final Offer
A person’s troubles are not measured by the size of those troubles, but by how much they weigh on the individual carrying them. Jessica George, Maame
If you cannot change your situation, then you have no choice. You can only change how you think about it. Jojo Moyes, Someone Else's Shoes
A great many things look different from a distance. Truth is like ugliness: you need to be close to see it. Emilia Hart, Weyward
Art is the friend that you can always return to. It will always be there to heighten your feeling of aliveness. Keep going. Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve
Our illusions weave roses around us, and when we try to escape, we are met with thorns. Roshani Chokshi, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
Beauty is less easily perceived when it’s in an unassuming setting. Freida McFadden, The Housemaid's Secret
Being vulnerable doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you trust yourself to be strong enough to handle the hurt. It’s actually the purest form of strength. Lucy Score, Things We Hide from the Light
After all, we build our homes upon the ruins of lost cities and sail our ships over the drowned palaces of forgotten kings. Shannon Chakraborty, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
What is the world, but a fleeting dream, from which we will all one day wake? Samantha Shannon, A Day of Fallen Night
It is unwise to let a man who isn’t king sit on a throne for too long. Costanza Casati, Clytemnestra
You’re depressed, not crazy. It’s not insane to be depressed in this world. It’s more sane than being happy. I never trust those upbeat individuals who grin no matter what’s going on. Those are the ones with a screw loose, if you ask me. Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful
Poverty does not just deprive people of security and comfort; it siphons off their brainpower, too. Matthew Desmond, Poverty, by America
Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it towards the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs – on the probabilities. Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing
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Humans mourn time, because it’s the only currency that really matters in a life so short. Carissa Broadbent, The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King
If you’re with someone who doesn’t speak your language, you’ll spend a lifetime having to translate your soul. Abby Jimenez, Yours Truly
Empires preserve their power with the stories that they tell, but just as critical are the stories they don’t – the dark silences they impose, the pages they tear out. David Grann, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Forgiving others could be difficult, but forgiving yourself can sometimes feel impossible. T. J. Klune, In the Lives of Puppets
Fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives! Abraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water
Truth is, you’ll never meet a book lover who hates the quiet. Christina Lauren, The True Love Experiment
Writing is the closest thing we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, is opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much. R. F. Kuang, Yellowface
Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. Meg Shaffer, The Wishing Game
It takes a lifetime to make a friend, but you can lose one in an hour. Lisa See, Lady Tan's Circle of Women
Physics is like sex: it may yield practical results, but often that’s not why we do it. Ali Hazelwood, Love, Theoretically
Nothing lasts forever. Not the good things, not the bad. So just find what makes you happy, and do it for as long as you can. Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip
Never let something trivial, like a sense of humor, get in the way of a good joke. Brandon Sanderson, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
Forgetting is essential to learning, just as exhaling is essential to breathing. Breathe out, then in. Find the self, then lose it once again. Thus, the path goes ever onward. Pierce Brown, Light Bringer
Forty is when you have to stop kidding yourself that you’re still a young anything. Stephen King, Holly
Sometimes you have to stop waiting for something to happen and start making it happen. Lucy Score, Things We Left Behind
Everyone who dies is alive. We call people “dead” because we need a word for it, but “dead” just means that time has stopped moving forward for that person? You understand? No one dies, not really. Richard Osman, The Last Devil to Die
All that is good comes from the Gods. All that is evil comes from men. Cassandra Clare, Sword Catcher
Because love, at its root, is hope. Hope for tomorrow. Hope for what could be. Hope that the someone you’ve entrusted your everything to will cradle and protect it. And hope? That s*** is harder to kill than a dragon. Rebecca Yarros, Iron Flame
Every book is a little mirror, and sometimes you look into it and see someone else looking back. Travis Baldree, Bookshops & Bonedust
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