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book or book quotes that “woke you up”? (self.books)

submitted by Born-Purpose-8046

what are your favourite books or book quotes that have made you reconsider what you are doing and feel sad or guilty as a result?

this morning, i came across this quote: “Often father and daughter look down on mother (woman) together. They exchange meaningful glances when she misses a point. They agree that she is not bright as they are, cannot reason as they do. This collusion does not save the daughter from the mother’s fate.” -Bonnie Burstow

it really got me thinking about my own relationship with my parents and i’m looking for other similarly impactful quotes or books that have changed your ways or course of life.

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[–]niceand-fine 20 points21 points  (1 child)

This quote from Nausea by Sartre — “But I remained close to people, on the surface of solitude, quite determined, in case of emergency, to take refuge in their midst.”

[–]Born-Purpose-8046[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh wow that is a very well-phrased quote

[–]Zeta343 19 points20 points  (1 child)

From Sirens of Titan: "The crowd, having been promised nothing, felt cheated, having received nothing."

[–]Hyperion_Consul 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"I am a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all."

[–]KoreaMieville 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

"And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change..."

[–]Insatiable_Pervert 9 points10 points  (1 child)

“Language serves not only to express thought but to make possible thoughts which could not exist without it.” —from Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

[–]TimDrHookMcCracken 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is good. It reminds me of learning that writing helps your thinking. Writing out your thoughts makes you better communicate what you may more vaguely "know" but articulating it helps so much.

[–]Raisey- 3 points4 points  (1 child)

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Roberț Tressell. Made me think differently about the plight of the working man. Just as relevant now as it was one hundred years ago.

[–]2ndfieldontheright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So good to see this mentioned. Great book

[–]CataKala 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“Or was my rage my mother’s? Or her mother’s? Or hers? An inherited creature?”

Lidia Yuknavitch, Letter to My Rage: An Evolution

[–]wtfbrah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pretty much all of East of Eden. Timshel, to be specific.

[–]jackiebook67 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“instead of proving everyone wrong, i must prove myself right.”

[–]No-Plankton7221 10 points11 points  (4 children)

Omg this quote just gave me goosebumps🥺

There are actually two quotes that woke me up: •"A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed. It won't stretch to make room for you." -Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

•"Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." -Khaled Hosseini

And the fact that these are written by a man, made it different in so many ways.

[–]Born-Purpose-8046[S] 7 points8 points  (1 child)

yes! i absolutely love a thousand splendid suns. my favourite quote would have to be “and for the last time, mariam did as she was told”

[–]No-Plankton7221 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There are so many great quotes in that book.

[–]Apprehensive-Row5876 -3 points-2 points  (1 child)

I don't want to be mean or anything, but I find it a bit concerning how your (I assume) favorite quotes both try to assure you that a man (no, not humans in general, that wouldn't be right, just males) are bad. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

[–]No-Plankton7221 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't understand why it should be anyone's concern as to what my favourite quotes are. And just by saying that you've proved that no matter what we do, we are always going to offend a man and there will always be at least one of you telling us how our choices disturb you or concern you.

Now just because I have mentioned these quotes doesn't mean that I hate men or I'm trying to say that all men are bad. My father has been my strength and support and there are so many such men out there who support and treat females equally but you can also not deny the deep rooted patriarchy and how toxic it is where people, for ages, have been telling women what and what not she is supposed to do.

It's so amusing that every time a female says something that's a minor blow to a man's pea-sized ego there will be at least 10 of them saying, "NOT ALL MEN". But have you ever heard a female say, "NOT ALL WOMEN" when men say things like how a certain profession is not for women or how all women are bad drivers, how they are supposed to stay at home and bear kids and look after the family?

I wasn't trying to imply anything here but I'm supposed to have my own choices. What a person likes or dislikes should not be anyone's business. Hope you find your peace ✌

[–]WonderK8 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was a very impactful book for me and I have a few quotes from it posted around my office space, but I'm always eager to share this one in particular.

"Oh, monsters are scared, that's why they're monsters. And as for grown-ups...I'm going to tell you something important. Grown ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is there aren't any grown-ups. Not one in the whole world."

[–]jhechty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The ketty jay series by Chris woofing “Never do anything your good at for free” words to live by!

[–]Uzuc_mp3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“Being clear about what is important is equivalent to being clear about what is not important.” Cal Newport- Deep Work

[–]machinistjake 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City book by Matthew Desmond

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States book by Daniel Immerwahr

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man book by John Perkins (full disclosure people have criticized this book for being non-credible)

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World book by Mark Miodownik (this one is mind blowing, but a much more fun lighthearted read than the other three)

[–]vanlife22 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In Stuff Matters, I was reading the chapter about chocolate while I was in bed and he said how it's designed to melt in your mouth so I got up and let a piece melt in my mouth as I read and laid back down. I made enough noise with it that after a couple minutes my girlfriend half asleep asks me what I'm doing and I explain through a chocolate filled mouth about the book and how it melts in your mouth and I wanted to try. She just starts giggling and says she doesn't understand how I'm so dumb goes back to sleep.

Maybe you had to be there but I still think it's funny

[–]Persism 1 point2 points  (1 child)

In Dune when I realized what the Axlotl Tanks actually were.

[–]CitricDrop8363 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same my dude. Of all Frank Herbert's wisdom and quotes throughout his series, this is the bit you chose, and I respect that.

[–]vanlife22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dostoyevsky taught me so much in terms of empathy and understanding when I was about 22, changed my life.

Jean Valjean's character and attitude towards Cosette really framed what actual love means

[–]TravelingBurger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Capital Volume 1: “If money, according to Augier, “comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek,” capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt.”

“What is extraordinary about Capital is that it offers a still-unrivalled picture of the dynamism of capitalism and its transformation of societies on a global scale. It firmly embedded concepts such as commodity and capital in the lexicon. And it highlights some of the vulnerabilities of capitalism, including its unsettling disruption of states and political systems. [...] If Capital has now emerged as one of the great landmarks of nineteenth-century thought, it is [because it connects] critical analysis of the economy of his time with its historical roots. In doing so, he inaugurated a debate about how best to reform or transform politics and social relations, which has gone on ever since.” - Gareth Stedman Jones

[–]Dazzling-Ad4701 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Saint Teresa said: 'it must be in my nature, for anyone who gave me so much as a sardine could obtain anything from me'. The character Theresa Maria Warner in Laurie Colwin's novel Happy All The Time.

This casual little line called out my own emotional entanglements wrt acceptance, kindness, gratitude, like you wouldn't believe.

[–]Capital-Fox-6376 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“You must remember what you are and what you have chosen to become, and the significance of what you are doing. There are wars and defeats and victories of the human race that are not military and that are not recorded in the annals of history. Remember that while you're trying to decide what to do.”

Highly recommend reading Stoner by John Williams.

[–]davidakuykendall 1 point2 points  (0 children)

...there is something fierce and ratlike and dangerous about Earthly men.

— H. G. Wells, “Men Like Gods”

[–]ConstantPrint8357 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He loved big brother.

[–]Loan-Cute 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"To be immortal is commonplace; except for man, all creatures are immortal, for they are ignorant of death" -Jorge Luis Borges, El Aleph

[–]kingkyle630 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The War of Art has a ton of quotes like that. Personally, I don’t think I can boil it down to a single one, but rather I remember whole chapters awakening new perspectives.

[–]2ndfieldontheright 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, we'll meet the meat. that's cool.

[–]NYWerebear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

John Steakley, "Armor". "You are / What you do / When it counts."

A reminder that your actions define you. :)

[–]Dazzling-Ad4701 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fay Weldon.

they've cost-accounted integrity, and found that it pays

from The Cloning Of Joanna May.

[–]Ambitious_Tea3526 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That quote did the same thing to me!!

[–]Moist_Lobster_2372 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe not as philosophical, but Animal Farm by George Orwell was a big one for me when I read it when I was younger. I still think about that book a lot

[–]RohanAMcA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us."

  • Hermann Hesse, Demian: Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend

I think I came across the quote (or a paraphrased version) before I found the work itself. It has become a touchstone in my thinking and reasoning when I try and reflect on my opinions of other people and my relationships with them and with myself. My experience is it's 100% true.