These are my top ten favorite quotes from books, in random order. Three of them in Bahasa Indonesia because I read the translation, and cannot find the same quotes in English.
"Gatsby believed in the green light,
the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then,
but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms
farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current,
borne back ceaselessly into the past." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great
Gatsby
"It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was
the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of
Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the
winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in
short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest
authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the
superlative degree of comparison only." ~Charles Dickens – A Tale of
Two Cities
“Until the day when God will deign to reveal
the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words,—‘Wait and hope.’”
~Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo
“Pagi ini saat aku duduk di depan jendela
dan sangat lama disana, menatap betapa dalamnya Tuhan dan alam, aku bahagia.
Kekayaan, kehormatan, segala sesuatu dapat hilang. Tapi kebahagiaan di dalam
hatimu hanya dapat berkurang, ia akan selalu di sana, selama kamu masih hidup
untuk membuat dirimu kembali bahagia. Bila kamu merasa sedih, cobalah naik ke
loteng pada hari yang indah dan menatap ke luar. Bukan pada rumah-rumah dan
atapnya, namun pada langit. Selama kamu dapat menatap langit tanpa rasa takut;
kamu akan tahu bahwa kamu suci di dalamnya dan akan menemukan kebahagiaan
sekali lagi.” ~Anne Frank – Diary of Anne Frank
"I keep my ideals, because in spite of
everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."
~Anne Frank – Diary of Anne Frank
“They loved each other, not driven by
necessity, by the “blaze of passion” often falsely ascribed to love. They loved
each other because everything around them willed it, the trees and the clouds
and the sky over their heads and the earth under their feet. Perhaps their surrounding
world, the strangers they met in the street, the wide expanses they saw on
their walks, the rooms in which they lived or met, took more delight in their
love than they themselves did.” ~Boris Pasternak – Doctor Zhivago
“Peter: ‘ke mana Engkau hendak pergi, Tuhan?’
Jesus: ‘Karena kini kau meninggalkan umatKu,
Aku akan pergi ke Roma, untuk disalibkan yang kedua kalinya’.” ~ Henryk
Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis?
"Semua orang ingin agar hidupnya indah
dan mudah. Hidup memang indah, Nak, sangat indah, namun tidak mudah. Hidup akan
menjatuhkan seseorang dan begitu orang itu bangkit, dia akan dijatuhkan lagi. (…).
Aku ingin agar hidupmu mudah. Lebih mudah daripada yang kualami. Hati seorang
ayah sakit saat melihat anak-anaknya menghadapi dunia. Tahu bahwa mereka akan
terluka, sama sepertinya... Lalu apa yang harus ia lakukan? Apa yang harus ia
lakukan ketika jatuh? Tentu saja ia harus menerima hal itu dan melanjutkan
hidup." ~Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings – The Yearling
“If there's just one kind of folks, why
can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out
of their way to despise each other?” ~Harper Lee – To Kill A Mockingbird
"Please,
sir, I want some more."
~Charles Dickens – Oliver Twist
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog.
The "best of times, worst of times" quotation from the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities always reminds me that Dickens got paid by the word. It seems more excessive than beautiful. Then again, I'd probably have done the same thing if I got paid by the word!
ReplyDeleteIt's still beautiful for me.. :)
DeleteThese are wonderful quotes. They tell me that you are optimistic and compassionate. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBlessings:)
And thanks for saying it. You're right, I'm that kind of person (I guess--at least many people told me that) :)
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