I have a lot of mental free time at work, so I listen to audiobooks all day. Currently I’m reading Blacktop Wasteland in recommendation of someone in this sub. I got to a line that was so good it made me stop and write it in my notepad. Describing a southern Virginian good ol’ boy policeman, the line was,
“He was built like a fire hydrant and had a hairline that was retreating like Lee at Gettysburg.”
I have a million of these, but I was hoping you’d share yours, and what book they’re from, so I can add them to my constantly growing list of next.
by Rob_LeMatic
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“Because there is not a woman alive who has not learned how to eat rage in order to appear calm.” From Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
That line absolutely took my breath away. I had to stop and just sit with it for a few minutes.
“And though old doctor Colt declared me cured
Of what he said were mainly growing pains
The wonder lingers and the shame remains”
The poem itself is ok overall but when it has its moments it shines
When even the bartenders lose their romantic notions it’s time for a better world, or at least a better bar.
– The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley
Forgive me, not a line, but a chapter:
The Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov.
The menopause is like puberty, but backwards and in heels – Richard Osman (not sure which book!).
“In a fight like this, unless you’re willing to lose everything to win, you lose it all by losing.”
“Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. But if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.” – Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove
Specifically for me, the line that stuck out to me the most was “trusting his life to oaths taken, promises struck” (Homer). Its specifically referring to loyalties the men had to Priam, and came right before his death in the Iliad. The simplicity of the line, mixed with its view of going forth due to loyalty, was one that made me annotate it in the book (and I rarely, rarely, annotate).
“Contemplate the marvel that is existence and rejoice that you are able to do so.”
– Exhalation by Ted Chiang
The quote is even better in the context of the short story.