Literature has the remarkable ability to distill complex emotions and truths into just a few powerful words. From classic novels to poetic masterpieces, great authors have left behind a trail of quotes that continue to resonate across generations. These quotes from literary giants capture the essence of the human experience.
- “It is not down in any map; true places never are.”
– Herman Melville, Moby-Dick - “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring - “So it goes.”
– Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five - “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
– Stephen King, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption - “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
– Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights - “You have bewitched me, body and soul.”
– Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice - “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
– William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream - “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun.”
– Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina - “Whatever happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life, I’m happy now… because I love you.”
– Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife
- “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”
– Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms - “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
– Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird - “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
– Victor Hugo, Les Misérables - “Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up.”
– Veronica Roth, Divergent - “Bran thought about it. ‘Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?’ ‘That is the only time a man can be brave,’ his father told him.”
– George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
- “Until they became conscious, they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.”
– George Orwell, 1984 - “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
– Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
– George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons - “We accept the love we think we deserve.”
– Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower - “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
– George Orwell, 1984
- “You gave me a forever within the numbered days.”
– John Green, The Fault in Our Stars - “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
– Dr. Seuss - “The past beats inside me like a second heart.”
– John Banville, The Sea - “Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”
– L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl - “The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy who loves you.”
– Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
- “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”
– Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar - “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
– John Steinbeck, East of Eden - “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
– Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan - “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
– Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - “Not all those who wander are lost.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Literature is a mirror to our inner lives. The quotes above remind us of who we are, who we can become, and what it means to be human. These words offer timeless wisdom and enduring beauty.
