Water For Elephants Quotes
"You didn’t just jump a train, boy. You done jumped the Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth."
"The pain from this sudden realization is so intense I double over, clutching my stomach."
"Age is a terrible thief. Just when you’re getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back."
"The train is closer now, rattling and thumping toward me."
"I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other."
"You start to forget words: they’re on the tip of your tongue, but instead of eventually dislodging, they stay there."
"There’s only one way to avoid it, and I’m not sure I much care for that option either."
"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant . . . An elephant’s faithful—one hundred per cent!"
"Sometimes I think that if I had to choose between an ear of corn or making love to a woman, I’d choose the corn."
"You’re a good kid, and I ain’t about to stand by and watch you mope off ’cuz that fat old grouch don’t got time."
"Ah Jesus," says Earl. "Hang on. I’ll be back in a minute."
"Stuff’s gonna kill the old fellow," he mutters.
"I’ll see your three and raise you five," he says.
"You want I should show him the door?" says Earl.
"And what, pray tell, does Jacob Jankowski think he is doing on my train?"
"You want to carry water for elephants, I suppose?"
"I’m going to tell you how it is, Jacob Jankowski."
"Aren’t you a lucky boy?" He pries off a roof vent and disappears.
"Good morning, Mr. Jankowski," the nurse says.
"Because the good Lord has seen fit to bless you with another day," she says.
"I do declare you’re as strong as a horse," she says.
"Do you hear that, August? The boy likes your Marlena."
"I’m like a piece of meat unearthed from the back of the fridge, suspect until proven otherwise."
"I’m not deaf, you know!" I shout from my bed.
"You’re right, I conceded. I guess I could use some help."
"I felt like a toddler whose tantrum was being allowed to run its course."
"I remember leaving my house for the last time, bundled up like a cat on the way to the vet."
"And then my plate sort of slid off the table."
"Why don’t you go telling Dr. Rashid about the cream," she says.
"It’s supposed to keep you healthier for longer," she says.
"There’s nothing but garbage on these days, anyway," I say.
"Don’t even bother," says a man coming out. "Fried dough and nothing but chicory to wash it down."
"You should take it up. It’s good for your health."
"It’s gonna be a day or two before anybody knows what’s what, and I don’t want none of ours going missing."
"You are not giving that to him," says August. "Now sit down."
"I’m sorry, but I can’t do that," I say, turning to walk away.
"I’ll be along in a minute," I say. "I need to check the other menagerie."
"And what’s the point of using their baggage stock if we’re just going to have to hard-ass ours to keep ’em in shape, anyway!"
"We are in the big leagues now. A show to be reckoned with."
"I have no idea. Nothing but scraps of memory, and—"
"I don’t know what to think. I’ve never encountered an animal this large."
"I wonder why he’s looking at me with such hostility."
"I seem to slip in and out of time and space. Either I’m finally going senile, or else it’s my mind’s way of coping with being entirely unchallenged in the present."
"I could just call the nurse. But what fun would that be?"
"Why, I’m just going to look out the window for a while."
"I’m so used to being scolded and herded and managed and handled that I’m no longer sure how to react when someone treats me like a real person."
"I don’t see why not. Forever might be next week for me."
"Sometimes when you get older...things you think on and wish on start to seem real."
"It’s better than sitting alone at a table, isn’t it?"
"Just because you can make something doesn’t mean you should."
"So many tickets sell that after Uncle Al entreats the crowd to shift closer together for the fourth time, it becomes clear that this won’t be enough."
"Not a single child is run over. In fact, everyone is brilliant, and none more so than Rosie."
"Marlena! Marlena!" He is screaming now, and even the unbruised parts of his face are discolored."
"I love you, Marlena. I love you with my heart and soul, and I want to be with you."
"If you go up those stairs, I’m calling the police!" he shouts.
"She’ll handle him. I tell you, she’ll handle him. She’s the only one who can."
"We’re going to get out of here. But if we’re all going to make it, we’ve got to play it right."
"They wouldn’t be taking you back if they hadn’t forgiven you."
"The divide between this car and the next seems immense, a great span over eternity."
"I gather myself, pressing my tongue against the bitter metal of the knife."
"Then I leap, throwing every ounce of muscle into propelling myself through the air."
"I hit roof. I cling to the top rail, panting like a dog around the sides of the blade."
"Something warm trickles from the corner of my mouth."
"Still kneeling on the rail, I remove the knife from my mouth and lick blood from my lips."
"Each time I leap, I land a little more cleanly, a little more cavalierly."
"My muscles are aching, my head is spinning, and I’m gasping for breath."
"The train jerks again, and I make my decision."
"The corridor is empty, illuminated by moonlight coming through the windows."
"We’re on the trestle now. I had underestimated its height—we’re a good forty yards above the boulders of the riverbank."
"Soon I’m staring at the doorknob of stateroom 3."
"There’s a loud click as I turn the knob, and I freeze."
"If he’s on his back, a single quick slash across the windpipe will do it."
"I creep toward the bedroom, clutching the knife."
"I raise the knife, holding it in both hands, its tip poised two feet above his throat."
"I can’t imagine how I’ll keep going, but I must, because if I fall asleep here I’ll fall off the first time we hit a curve."
"The buzzing returns, and my eyes are jerking."
"I’m hanging by my fingertips when the train lurches once again, swinging my legs off to the side."
"I throw a book at the wall. I pound the floorboards. I shake my fists at heaven and God."
"The SCREECH OF THE air brakes snaps me out of my trance."
"I may be in my nineties, but who says I’m helpless?"
"And what I’m left looking at in its place is a terrible thing."