Best Quotes from Remarkably Bright Creatures

Introduction

Shel­by Van Pelt’s 2022 debut, Remark­ably Bright Crea­tures, pairs the qui­et grief of wid­ow Tova Sul­li­van with the razor-sharp obser­va­tions of Mar­cel­lus McSquid­dles, a giant Pacif­ic octo­pus who can escape his tank as eas­i­ly as he can skew­er human fol­ly. Read­ers fell in love with the novel’s mix of small-town warmth, marine-life won­der, and wit­ty, soul-search­ing com­men­tary. Below, you’ll find a curat­ed col­lec­tion of its most res­o­nant lines—short enough to share, deep enough to linger—organized by the themes that make the sto­ry so mem­o­rable.

🐙 Marcellus on Human Quirks

• “Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blun­der­ing. But occa­sion­al­ly, you can be remark­ably bright crea­tures.” — Mar­cel­lus

• “Why can humans not use their mil­lions of words to sim­ply tell one anoth­er what they desire?” — Mar­cel­lus

• “Humans are the only species who sub­vert truth for their own enter­tain­ment. They call them jokes. Some­times puns.” — Mar­cel­lus

Each quip reminds us that the octopus’s eight-armed per­spec­tive cuts through social niceties to expose our contradictions—brilliant insight mixed with bum­bling com­mu­ni­ca­tion. His bemused tone is fun­ny, but it also invites read­ers to see them­selves more clear­ly.

💬 Secrets, Words, and the Trouble Between Them

• “Secrets are every­where. Some humans are crammed full of them. How do they not explode? It seems to be a hall­mark of the human species: abysmal com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills.” — Mar­cel­lus

• “Day 1,361 of my captiv—oh, let us cut the shit, shall we? We have a ring to retrieve.” — Mar­cel­lus

• “Smart cook­ie. I am smart, but I am not a snack object dis­pensed from a pack­aged-food machine.” — Mar­cel­lus

These lines spot­light the com­e­dy that aris­es when unspo­ken feel­ings meet Marcellus’s can­did nar­ra­tion. He refus­es euphemism, forc­ing char­ac­ters (and read­ers) to con­front half-truths they’d rather leave unsaid.

💔 Grief, Empathy, and the Hollow Places

• “As a gen­er­al rule, I like holes. A hole at the top of my tank gives me free­dom. But I do not like the hole in her heart… I will do every­thing I can to help her fill it.” — Mar­cel­lus

• “Tova won­ders some­times if it’s bet­ter that way, to have one’s tragedies clus­tered togeth­er… Once your soul was soaked through with grief, any more sim­ply ran off, over­flowed, the way maple syrup on Sat­ur­day-morn­ing pan­cakes always cas­cad­ed onto the table.” — Nar­ra­tor

• “You can’t fix some­one who is deter­mined to stay bro­ken.” — Cameron’s thought

Here the nov­el shifts from dry humor to ten­der empa­thy. Whether it’s an octo­pus rec­og­niz­ing emo­tion­al wounds or a human choos­ing resilience, the quotes cap­ture how loss carves space for unex­pect­ed bonds.

🌟 Choice, Growth, and Second Chances

• “Some trees aren’t meant to sprout ten­der new branch­es, but to stand sto­ical­ly on the for­est floor, silent­ly decay­ing.” — Nar­ra­tor

• “What do you think I’m try­ing to do? Not my fault I was dealt a lousy hand.” “ No, the deal is nev­er anyone’s fault. But you con­trol the way you play.” — Dia­logue between Cameron and Tova

• “Tell me again about the intel­li­gence of humans. They can­not even man­age to com­pre­hend pre­dictable mete­o­ro­log­i­cal events.” — Mar­cel­lus

These lines under­score a cen­tral mes­sage: cir­cum­stances may be fixed, but mean­ing comes from how we respond. Whether it’s a fall­en tree, a rigged deal, or tomorrow’s weath­er, the char­ac­ters learn—sometimes grudgingly—that agency begins with per­spec­tive.

Conclusion

From sar­cas­tic jabs about mete­o­rol­o­gy to aching reflec­tions on grief, Remark­ably Bright Crea­tures com­press­es big ideas into bite-size lines. Marcellus’s barbed wis­dom, Tova’s qui­et endurance, and Cameron’s grudg­ing self-aware­ness remind us that even the most ordi­nary lives can sparkle with insight—if we’re brave enough to look beneath the sur­face.