Everyone loves a good quote, right?
I knew someone who had the habit of writing down good quotes she came across while reading, and then she’d squirrel the quote away and sneak it into a different book. When I asked why she did it, it was twofold: to share a bit of something she loved and to maybe entice people to read a book she thought deserved more attention.
Y’all, that was all it took, and I was absolutely sold on the idea of leaving little quote surprises for future readers.
I’ve found several in my local library while reading books, and not just from this woman, which made me all the more excited that there’s more people like this out there!
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about bookmarks, but I don’t use any special bookmarks. I’m actually a bit of a professional at losing mine.
So instead, I decided to do it on something else you can put in books rather than bookmarks. And no, I don’t mean Chex Mix or Vitamin Water.
I thought about adding some sort of commentary to this, but … the point of this in real life is that someone will find the quote without any explanation or context, so I thought it’d be more fun to simulate that here. So we can discuss thoughts in the comments, if you’d like, but otherwise, I didn’t want to taint the experience!
Thunderhead
“The end doesn’t always justify the means, dear,” she said. “But sometimes it does. Wisdom is knowing the difference.”
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Sometimes I think my father has all these scars. On his heart. In his head. All over. It’s not such an easy thing to be the son of a man who’s been to war.
Illuminae
“You deserve every star in the galaxy laid out at your feet and a thousand diamonds in your hair. You deserve someone who’ll run with you as far and as fast as you want to. Holding your hand, not holding you back.”
A Crown of Wishes
“Surviving isn’t just about cutting out your heart and burning every feeling into ash,” he said. “Sometimes it means taking whatever is thrown at you, beautiful or grotesque, poisonous or blissful, and carving out your life with the pieces you’re given.”
A Thousand Perfect Notes
If he stretches to care about something else – like what the Maestro thinks of him or how he fails at school or what he really wants to do with his life – he’ll be pulled too thin. His skin will part like old paper and the world will see how his skeleton is made of dark wishes and macabre dreams. They’ll know his heart thumps to the beat of the Maestro’s metronome because it’s too scared to do otherwise.
The Astonishing Color of After
Once upon a time we were the standard colors of a rainbow, cheery and certain of ourselves. At some point, we all began to stumble into the in-betweens, the murky colors made dark and complicated by resentment and quiet anger. At some point, my mother slid so off track she sank into hues of gray, a world drawn only in shadows.
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
“How did you fall in love with her?” the boy asks.
Grandpa’s hands land with one palm on his own knee and one on the boy’s. “She got lost in my heart, I think. Couldn’t find her way out. Your grandma always had a terrible sense of direction. She could get lost on an escalator.”
How to Stop Time
Forever, Emily Dickinson said, is composed of nows. But how do you inhabit the now you are in? How do you stop the ghosts of all the other nows from getting in? How, in short, do you live?
My Song For Him Who Never Sang to Me
You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting
Bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.
Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.
Chat With Me
Do you leave quotes in books? What are some of your favorite quotes?
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Haha I’m pretty much a pro at losing bookmarks too but I’m glad I took some photos of some previously because I have now misplaced the majority of them 😅 Why are they so easy to lose!? I LOVE all these quotes though! All the feels 🥰
My TTT post
These are all such great quotes! I especially live the one from And Every Morning the Way Home…
Yes, Backman has all the greatest quotes! It was so hard to pick just one. xD
Ahaha, at least you got the pictures! That’s smart. xD It’s why the only bookmarks I use now are magnetic, because they’re either on a book page or on my fridge. I mean, I still manage to lose them, but not at the same rate.
I loved these quotes. Great post.
And I’m terrible about losing bookmarks, too.
My TTT.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one. xD Maybe bookmarks are just really good escape artists.
I love that Illuminae quote. Such a great book.
Right? I always have such trouble choosing one quote from series I love, because there’s always so many good options.
That’s a really neat idea! Though… when I worked at the library one of the things we did was remove anything left in books when they were returned. (Mostly because a lot of the things left could damage the book.) So I have a hard time imagining actually doing this myself. Great quotes, though!
We do that, too, when books come in and they go. But if you stick them in the books while they’re on the shelf, with just a little slip of paper sticking up, most people are nosy and pick it off the shelf and look before checking it out. 😉
LOL, that makes sense!
Great topic choice! I’m reading Thunderhead now and I haven’t gotten to that part of the book yet but I love the quote!
I hope you enjoy it! It’s one of my favorite YA series. :3
I’ve never heard of this before, but I love this idea! Glad you shared!
Gosh I LOVE these!! I keep seeing quotes in The Toll that are perfect too and i just can’t understand how Neal Shusterman writes SO many quoteworthy lines. Ditto Cait, tbh. But all of the quotes you shared are SO lovely, they make me want to read all the books!
Thanks! Cait is … an anomaly. I don’t know. I’m not sure she could exist if she wasn’t in Australia, because that whole continent is an anomaly to me, and therefore, clearly, everything aligned perfectly and Cait appeared. We probably don’t deserve her. xD
But yes, Shusterman has SO MANY good quotes. And also Backman and Kristoff. It’s so hard, every time I do a post like this, just choosing between all the possible ones to share.
I really love these quotes! I always mark pages that have quotes that stand out to me. Sometimes I’ll check to see if someone’s made a bookmark, haha.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
I used to mark pages when I was younger, too! I use Post-It Note flags now, so I just have little colored sheets sticking out of my books. xD
I leave post-it notes and page tags in most of my books! It helps me remember what I want to write in a review.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
Oh I love your twist! I love to highlight quotes in my kindle or note them in my physical books. Your quotes are beautiful!
My TTT
Thank you! I prefer reading on the Kindle because of how easy it is to highlight things, but I did get little sticky flags for my physical books.
These are great quotes you’ve selected to share here! I love the one from And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer. I have not read this book yet but my goodness this quote hits the heart. So sweet ;____; I like to leave a colored sticky tab on pages / highlight for ebooks my favorite quotes. Hmm, one of my favorite quotes would be “Just because some people see us that way doesn’t mean it’s what we are. We’ll overcome our labels together. They don’t matter; they don’t make us who we are. We make us who we are…” from Sempre by JM Darhower 🙂
I soooo recommend reading that book! It will destroy your heart (and your feels) and probably make you ugly cry, but it was definitely worth the emotional trauma lol.
I’ve never heard of that book, but gosh, I love that quote! It’s beautiful.