Circus Quotes

“What you think of as fate only applies to the past. Our futures are only predictable because as creatures of this world we are predictable. Think of a cat and mouse. [...] When a cat sees a mouse, it will always chase, unless, perhaps, the cat is pursued by something larger, like a dog. We are much the same. The future knows what things we desire, unless there is something greater in our path that chases us away. [...] But even those things that might alter our course, the future usually sees clearly. [...] It is not fate, it is simply the future observing that which we crave the most. Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”
― Stephanie Garber, Caraval

“A joker is the one who learns to laugh outside of happiness”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“Circus can't just be beautiful. It has to be weird. It has to be frightening.”
― Elizabeth Schulte Martin, Everything You Came to See

“Welcome, welcome to Caraval! The grandest show on land or by sea. Inside you’ll experience more wonders than most people see in a lifetime. You can sip magic from a cup and buy dreams in a bottle. But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it’s all a game. What happens beyond this gate may frighten or excite you, but don’t let any of it trick you. We will try to convince you it’s real, but all of it is a performance. A world built of make-believe. So while we want you to get swept away, be careful of being swept too far away. Dreams that come true can be beautiful, but they can also turn into nightmares when people won’t wake up.”
― Stephanie Garber, Caraval

“The future is much like the past; it is mostly set, but can always be altered.”
― Stephanie Garber, Caraval

“Risking your own life in order to entertain others is the height of stupidity.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“You see someone and think, 'What a perfect life they have." But that's your perspective. From their perspective, their life is a mess and someone else's life is perfect. So everybody is running. What a goddamn circus!”
― Shunya

“Without the concern for the effect she might be having on the surroundings, she is able to relax into the sensation instead of resisting it. It is exquisite. It is the way she has felt in so many of his tents, the thrill of being surrounded by something wondrous and fantastical, only magnified and focused directly on her. The feel of his skin against hers reverberates across her entire body, though his fingers remain entwined in hers. She looks it up at him, caught in the haunting greenish-grey of his eyes again, and she does not turn away.
They stand gazing at each other in silence for moments that seem to stretch for hours.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

“The night of the anniversary party," she says. "The night you kissed me. I thought it that night. I didn't want to play anymore, I only wanted to be with you. I thought I would ask you to run away with me and I meant it. The very moment I convinced myself that we could manage it, I was in so much pain I could barely stand. Friedrick didn't know what to make of me, he sat me in a quiet corner and held my hand and did not pry when I couldn't explain because that's how kind he is.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

“God is just one more Clown
In this Circus of mine
(from song "no tunnel too dark")”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“Wolves don't perform in a circus, and people with a mind of their own, don't perform in a circus either.”
― Avijeet Das

“SOME PEOPLE KEEP LIONS, BUT ALL THEY DO IS, RUN A CIRCUS.

कुछ लोग शेर पालते हैं, पर सर्कस चलाते हैं।”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“Marco watches her approach, confused at first but then the confusion is replaced by something entirely.
He could tell from across the room that she was lovely, but when she is near enough to look him in the eyes the loveliness-the shape of her face, the contrast of her hair against her skin-evolves into something more.
She is radiant. For a moment, while they look at each other, he cannot remember what he is meant to be doing, or why she is handing him a piece of paper with the number twenty-three written on it in his own handwriting.
"This way, please," he manages to say as he takes her number and holds the door open for her. She bobs the slightest of curtseys in acknowledgment and the lobby is abuzz with whispers before the door has fully closed behind them.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

“Secrets have power," Widget begins. "And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them. Writing them down is even worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it. So it's really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.
This is, in part, why there is less magic in the world today. Magic is secret and secrets are magic, after all, and years upon years of teaching and sharing magic and worse. Writing it down in fancy books that get all dusty with age has lessened it, removed its power bit by bit. It was inevitable, perhaps, but not unavoidable. Everyone makes mistakes.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

“Politics is high-octane circus of depreciating morality.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“The man standing in the booth placing the tickets into her hands for the fun-house loomed largely in front of her with arms comprised of iron muscle. She remembered the gray cataract that covered over one of his eyes and the terrified feeling it gave her. She had been too young to understand the malady. To her; his eye looked as though it belonged to a creature from the sea. A frightening creature composed of reptilian and fish like attributes, which would pull unsuspecting prey underneath the darkest oceans. The smile on his face, with the crooked teeth, the cigar, contrasting with the bald head and unshaven face increased her sense of panic.”
― Jaime Allison Parker, River at the World's Dawn

“I'm only here for the food. I'll pass on the fun.”
― Jay Reeves, Kitty Kat Kitty Goes to the Circus

“Trump taught us how easily seemingly serious people can become profoundly idiotic. He turned career politicians into circus freaks.”
― Thor Benson

“Sorry cancerous Patients… life as for you has be cancelled... No circus for you MOTHERFUCKERS!”
― Deyth Banger, Jokes From A

“I thought we might even retell some of the stories she used to invent for us."
"Like the one about the gate at the bottom of the garden that led to fairyland."
"And the dragon eggs she found in the woods."
"And the time she ran away to join the circus."
"Do you remember," said Iris suddenly, "the circus we had here?"
"My circus," said Daphne, beaming from behind her wineglass.
"Well, yes," Iris interjected, "but only because-"
"Because I'd had the horrid measles and missed the real circus when it came to town." Daphne laughed with pleasure at the memory. "She got Daddy to build a tent at the bottom of the meadow, remember, and organized all of you to be clowns. Laurel was a lion, and Mummy walked the tightrope."
"She was rather good at that," said Iris. "Barely fell off the rope. She must've practiced for weeks."
"Or else her story was true and she really did spend time in the circus," said Rose. "I can almost believe it of Mummy."
Daphne gave a contented sigh. "We were lucky to have a mother like ours, weren't we? So playful, almost as if she hadn't fully grown up, not at all like other people's boring old mothers.”
― Kate Morton, The Secret Keeper

“In order to win, you must lose it all...”
― Willow Anderson, Pandemonium

“The spectacles of zoos, circuses, and world's fairs and expositions are important sites that predate the Internet by more than a century, but it can be argued and is in fact argued here that these traditions of displaying native bodies extend to the information age and are replicated in a host of problematic ways in the indexing, organization, and classification of information about Black and Brown bodies--especially on the commercial web.”
― Safiya Umoja Noble, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

“THERE IS NO RINGMASTER OUTSIDE THE CIRCUS

Stop looking at the ringmaster and be free of the circus. And a world exists outside the circus. If you are feeling stressed inside the circus, you can join back the jungle. If you are fed up of learning new tricks, join back the jungle. Unfortunately the lion thinks, the real challenge is the circus.”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“I believe you have my umbrella," he says, almost out of breath but wearing a grin that has too much wolf in it to be properly sheepish.
Celia stares up at him in surprise. At first she wonders what on earth Chandresh's assistant is doing in Prauge, as she has never seen him outside London. Then comes the question of how he could possess such an umbrella.
As she stairs at him, confused, the pieces of the puzzle begin to shift together. She remembers every encounter she had with the man now standing before her in the rain, recalling the distress he had exhibited at her audition, the years of glances and comments she had read as no more than coy flirtation.
And the constant impression as though he is not really there, blending so well into the background that she would occasionally forget he was in the room.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

“Everything within the cage rotates slowly, the silver stars sparkling as they catch the light.
Once the slow, steady tick begins, Celia removes her hand.
Friedrick does not inquire as to how she managed it.
Instead, he takes her to dinner. They do speak of the circus, but spend most of the meal discussing books and art, wine and favorite cities. The pauses in the conversation are not awkward, though they struggle to find the same rhythm in speaking that was already present in their written exchanges, often switching from one language to another.”
― Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

“Later, in the million times I replay the details of this night, I will remember - and hate myself for not noticing - how Delia's smile didn't reach her eyes. She was worried, and I missed it.
But in the moment, cues must be met.
The circus stops for no one.”
― Jennifer Sommersby, Sleight

“No matter what happens "Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt". In the Roman Empire, it was bread and chariot races and gladiatorial games that filled the belly and distracted the mind, allowing emperors to rule as they saw fit or to hide the realities.

There’s truth to the view that people can be kept tractable as long as you fill their bellies and give them violent spectacles to fill their free time. #Bread #Circus”
― Talees Rizvi, 21 Day Target and Achievement Planner [Use Only Printed Work Book: LIFE IS SIMPLE HENCE SIMPLE WORKBOOK

“Here in my circus, death comes to life!”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, After Death

“There is a circus leaders justify and tend to give a blind eye to reality. But if you think its a game, then you forget what the purpose of leadership actually is.”
― Tinashe Hodhera

“NOTHING IS MORE PATHETIC THAN TO WATCH A LION CLIMB A STOOL

Some people catch lions, only to run a circus.

Some people keep lions but only desire to run a circus.”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor