It may be controversial to say, especially as an English teacher, but I write in my books. I’ve had students gasp at this comment, but it’s the way I read. I underline parts of the book that I like. I underline if I like the way the words sound, or as a silent “Yes!” or as a way to commit those words to my memory. This may all be a bit meta. Quoting author John Green, ”Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we’re quoting.” If you’re also inspired by the words of others, read on to find some literary quotes that speak to you.
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Literary Quotes from Children’s Books
1. “I know you’ll be kind … and clever … and bold. And the bigger your heart, the more it will hold. When nights are black and when days are gray—you’ll be brave and be bright so no shadows can stay. And become anybody that you’d like to be. And then I’ll look at you and you’ll look at me and I’ll love you, whoever you’ve grown up to be.” —The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin
Reading this book to my kids before bed is one of many that can send me to tears. What a sweet message to give to children, to let them know they are loved no matter what.
Buy it: The Wonderful Things You Will Be on Amazon
2. “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” —The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
A good reminder that caring about things is not only important, sometimes it’s a calling. The things you care about matter and it may be the only way that change can occur.
Buy it: The Lorax on Amazon
3. “‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’” —The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
A message that one day we will find the people who will love us without all the polish and the performance. Having someone who sees you and knows you is what love is all about.
Buy it: The Velveteen Rabbit on Amazon
4. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go. …” —Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
A childhood favorite often gifted at graduation, but still a good reminder in adulthood. We’ve got the power to decide what we’ll do next.
Buy it: Oh, the Places You’ll Go! on Amazon
5. “Remember, what is given from the heart reaches the heart.” —What Is Given From the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack
It can be scary to give anything from the heart, to be vulnerable, but I think it is always worth it.
Buy it: What Is Given From the Heart on Amazon
6. “‘Why did you do all this for me,’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’ ‘You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.’” —Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
This is one of the literary quotes that makes you feel like you want to let your shoulders down and hug these fictional characters. What a relief it is to have friends like these who will be kind to you simply because you are their friend.
Buy it: Charlotte’s Web on Amazon
7. “‘He’s the strongest man in the world.’ ‘Man, yes,’ said Pippi, ‘But I am the strongest girl in the world, remember that.’” —Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
I wish for all the little girls in the world to have the confidence and strength of Pippi Longstocking.
Buy it: Pippi Longstocking on Amazon
8. “A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely.” —The Twits by Roald Dahl
I don’t think it’s possible to disagree with this thought. It may be cliché but it’s not untrue. It is always when I learn the thoughts in someone’s head or see the heart in their chest that I fall in love with who they are. That is when they are beautiful.
Buy it: The Twits on Amazon
9. “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” —Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
I try hard to remember this myself but also want every child everywhere to have this same kind of belief in themselves.
Buy it: Peter Pan on Amazon
10. “We all can dance when we find music that we love.” —Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
I’m a big believer in dancing it out. It doesn’t matter what you look like—the point is when we’re dancing, we’re having fun. If you’re in a funk, turn on some music and dance!
Buy it: Giraffes Can’t Dance on Amazon
11. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”—Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
A positive mindset to have after storms are endured, an acknowledgement that it is through the storms we weather that we get better at navigating what life brings.
Buy it: Little Women on Amazon
12. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” —The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Have empathy and feel your feelings, look for the good.
Buy it: The Little Prince on Amazon
13. “People who love each other are always connected by a very special string made of love. Even though you can’t see it with your eyes, you can feel it with your heart and know that you are always connected to everyone you love.” —The Invisible String by Patrice Karst
This is a sweet reminder that time and miles may divide you, but the connections you make will remain present, even if unseen by everyone else.
Buy it: The Invisible String on Amazon
14. “Setting out on an adventure is thrilling, but coming home is even better.” —Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
A reminder for anyone like me who gets restless, especially during these long winter months: how wonderful it is to be home.
Buy it: Where the Wild Things Are on Amazon
15. “But then I realized, what do they really know? This is MY idea, I thought. No one knows it like I do. And it’s okay if it’s different and weird, and maybe a little crazy.” —What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada
A reminder for kids and adults to celebrate your own original thinking.
Buy it: What Do You Do With an Idea? on Amazon
Literary Quotes From Young Adult Books
16. “Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” —Divergent by Veronica Roth
I used to teach Divergent and we’d do a study on fear. Years later, this is one of the literary quotes that echoes because you never outgrow fear. We just find new things to be afraid of and then have to learn how to not let it control us.
Buy it: Divergent on Amazon
17. “That’s the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.” —The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
John Green nails the language of young adults and creates fictional characters for everyone to fall in love with. He reminds us that pain is inevitable and inescapable in the most poetic way.
Buy it: The Fault in Our Stars on Amazon
18. “I try to think about how it all works. At school dances, I sit in the background, and I tap my toe, and I wonder how many couples will dance to ‘their song.’ In the hallways, I see the girls wearing the guys’ jackets, and I think about the idea of property. And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.” —The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Coming-of-age books and movies are some of my favorites. I love to see the way this age is captured through some of the best literary quotes. Their inner thoughts and the way that most of us keep that same internal monologue even into adulthood.
Buy it: The Perks of Being a Wallflower on Amazon
19. “Things were rough all over but it was better that way. That way, you could tell the other guy was human too.” —The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
The Outsiders is the one book my high school students can agree they loved. We can always use a reminder that we are all human and have more compassion for one another.
Buy it: The Outsiders on Amazon
20. “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” —Looking for Alaska by John Green
Raise your hand if this is you. Even if it is not far in the future, most of us look forward to Friday.
Buy it: Looking for Alaska on Amazon
21. “Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.” —Night by Elie Wiesel
Bad news can be heavy and hard to handle, but we’re human and we should care about one another.
Buy it: Night on Amazon
22. “I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It’s nice.” —Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
There are so many good lines in this one, but as one excited person who spends a great deal of my life with teenagers, I love it when I see my students get enthusiastic (even if it is about what color math is).
Buy it: Catcher in the Rye on Amazon
23. “I was half in love with her by the time we sat down.” —Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
If this were 2023, it’d be followed up with 100 heart-eye emojis.
Buy it: Catcher in the Rye on Amazon
24. “I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren’t all that different.” —Divergent by Veronica Roth
This is one of the literary quotes that reminds us that we may be the person that relies on the selflessness of others for our own benefit, but we should also be the person that sets our fear aside to support a friend in need.
Buy it: Divergent on Amazon
25. “I think you can sort of slip out of your life and it can be hard to find a way back in.” —I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
This reminds me of that line in “She Used To Be Mine” by Sara Bareilles, “Sometimes life just slips in through a back door, and carves out a person and makes you believe it’s all true.” Telling us that life can be messy, you can get lost, and it can be hard to find a way back to who you were. Also, this is one of those literary quotes that reminds us that we’re not alone in that feeling.
Buy it: I’ll Give You the Sun on Amazon
26. “THE BEST word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words.” —The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Like a reminder from Dead Poet’s Society, “Words and ideas can change the world.”
Buy it: The Book Thief on Amazon
27. “Dreams are hopeful because they exist as pure possibility. Unlike memories, which are fossils, long dead and buried deep.” —We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
So savor those sweet dreams that are unburdened by the rules of reality.
Buy it: We Are the Ants on Amazon
28. “I wonder what it’s like to have that much power over a boy. I don’t think I’d want it; it’s a lot of responsibility to hold a person’s heart in your hands.” —To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
A favorite of my high school students, a wise revelation for all ages to have.
Buy it: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Amazon
29. “People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” —To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This is one of the literary quotes hanging in my classroom. It ages so well because this is something that remains true of people in the classroom and beyond.
Buy it: To Kill a Mockingbird on Amazon
30. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” —To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A lesson we all hope to impart to our students, having courage to try.
Buy it: To Kill a Mockingbird on Amazon
Classic Literature Literary Quotes
31. “I love her and that’s the beginning and end of everything.” —The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Say what you want but F. Scott Fitzgerald knew how to make magic out of heartbreak. Imagine this on a love note in gel pens? You’d basically never move on.
Buy it: The Great Gatsby on Amazon
32. “If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn’t love as much in eighty years as I could in a day.” —Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
For Valentine’s Day this year, just cite Emily Brontë.
Buy it: Wuthering Heights on Amazon
33. “Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.” —Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Everyone applauding for Louisa May Alcott, writing this masterpiece in 1868 and still clapping for this revelation in 2023.
Buy it: Little Women on Amazon
34. “It is dreadful that one cannot tear out the past by the roots. We cannot tear it out but we can hide the memory of it.” —Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
When we can’t find the words for the exact kind of pain we feel, we can likely find them right inside a book written long ago, reminding us that we’re not alone.
Buy it: Anna Karenina on Amazon
35. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.” —A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
I read a lot of Hemingway in college and this line still packs a punch when I read it. Taylor Swift tells us that “life is emotionally abusive” and I think Hemingway would have agreed wholeheartedly.
Buy it: A Farewell to Arms on Amazon
36. “One day I will find the right words, and they all will be simple.” —The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
And suddenly the tornado of adjectives in your mind will stop turning.
Buy it: The Dharma Bums on Amazon
37. “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”—Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
What a perfect way to remind us that some seasons in life feel uncertain and other seasons give us our why.
Buy it: Their Eyes Were Watching God on Amazon
38. “It’s funny. All one has to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.” —The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Raise your hand if you’ve witnessed this at a staff meeting.
Buy it: The Catcher in the Rye on Amazon
39. “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” —A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
We can always use more laughter in our days.
Buy it: A Christmas Carol on Amazon
Memoir Literary Quotes
40. “The only way we will survive is by being kind. The only way we can get by in this world is through the help we receive from others. No one can do it alone, no matter how great the machines are.” —Yes Please by Amy Poehler
A book I reread quite frequently. It is filled with underlined pages, a simple reminder that collaboration is necessary, and kindness is the only way to operate in work and in life.
Buy it: Yes Please on Amazon
41. “Don’t waste your energy trying to change opinions. … Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” —Bossypants by Tina Fey
Trust yourself. Be OK with doing things differently than they’ve been done and know that you’ve got a reason for why you do what you do.
Buy it: Bossypants on Amazon
42. “What’s so wrong with effort, anyway? It means you care.” —Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
If you teach high school, you may hear the other kids call out “try-hard” when someone is actually trying. I want to get a shirt that says “Try-Hards are cool!” Caring is cool.
Buy it: Why Not Me? on Amazon
43. “People are their most beautiful when they are laughing, crying, dancing, playing, telling the truth, and being chased in a fun way.”—Yes Please by Amy Poehler
They are vulnerable and honest and unafraid.
Buy it: Yes Please on Amazon
44. “It’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there, it’s very hard to be vulnerable, but those people who do that are the dreamers, the thinkers and the creators. They are the magic people of the world.” —Yes Please by Amy Poehler
It’s very easy to criticize and pass judgment. It’s much more difficult to be an original thinker, problem-solve, and collaborate, but that is where the magic happens.
Buy it: Yes Please on Amazon
