If you’re anything like me, you keep a notebook of your favourite book quotations. It’s a fancy book, perhaps gilded or with some nice patterns on it, because as we all know, pretty covers make books just a little bit more interesting. (Incidentally, the same rule applies to all of the following: movie posters, mediocre wine, cheap t-shirts, and all the men you met before the age of twenty seven.) But sometimes there are also some incredible quotations inside those covers. I’m using today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt to explore some of my favourites.
My Top Ten Favourite Quotations
‘How far we are!’ he sighed.
‘From what?’
‘From ourselves.’
Of Love and Other Demons, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Marquez’s writing is so beautiful that it’s hard to pick just one quotation to focus on. But for me it’s always been this one from Of Love and Other Demons, because reading it for the first time was like being struck by a lightning bolt. For me it captures the complexities of self-knowledge so well, and so very simply.
We are made of starstuff.
Cosmos, Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan’s famous quotation comes at the end of a passage about the fact that every atom in our body was originally forged in the heart of a dying star. It’s an incredible realisation, one that takes you out of your mundane, everyday existence, and carries you out into the universe, if only for a moment.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
The motto of eager travellers the world over, “Not all those who wander are lost” has a beautiful simplicity to it. Forget for a moment that it’s from a book about miniature, hairy-legged men walking across a fantasy landscape to dispose of a jacked-up wedding ring. It gets at the heart of some very basic human fears: the fear of losing your way, both in a physical and in a figurative sense.
Did I exist before my birth? No. Shall I exist after my death? No. What am I but an organized handful of dust?
Les Misérables, Victor Hugo (trans. Norman Denny)
I’ve scoured other translations of Les MisĂ©rables into English for this quotation, but I can’t say I like any of them as much as I like Norman Denny’s. The phrase “organised handful of dust” echoed in my head long after I finished reading Les MisĂ©rables.
It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
We spend a great deal of time thinking about what’s good or bad – which is of course a very good thing – but this quotation from Good Omens illustrates how often we divide people’s actions into very black and white categories, rather than appreciating that human behaviour is, more often than not, simply a reflection of a person’s humanity.
For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Mr Bennet, despite being a pretty terrible father, does have some cracking lines in Pride and Prejudice. This is one of my favourites, because it acknowledges the inherent silliness of human society.
We are such stuff
The Tempest, William Shakespeare
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
Trying to pick your favourite Shakespeare quotation is like trying to pick your favourite kind of chocolate. What to choose? Milk chocolate (“To be or not to be”)? Bitter chocolate (“All the world’s a stage”)? Or just plain nutty (“You Banbury cheese!”)? Like a Cadbury bar, this quotation may not be the very best available, but it’s still pretty darn amazing.
I may have forgotten what I was talking about. I just know I’m craving chocolate now.
HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
It’s so difficult to pick just one Terry Pratchett quotation. Not only are there thousands of wickedly funny ones, but so many of them are also incredibly profound to boot. But since I read Hogfather recently, this quotation has been on my mind a lot. It perfectly illustrates Pratchett’s ideas about stories and why they’re such a huge part of what it means to be human.
I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.
Jane Austen’s Letters
Anybody who doubts Jane Austen’s title as the original Queen of Snark should be referred to the above quotation – posthaste.
Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Dumbledore makes so many powerful speeches in the Harry Potter series that it’s almost impossible to decide which one is the best, but this particular one has always been my favourite. It cheerfully pokes fun at the nature of reality, and I very much enjoy that.
What are some of your favourite quotations?
19 replies on “My Top Ten Favourite Quotations”
“We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”
Beautiful.
It really is! :)
Pratchett does have some really great quotes! Thanks for sharing.
He definitely does! :)
I keep meaning to read some Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but I never seem to get round to it. I do really like that quote though, so I’ll try to bump it up my TBR list!
I like the Denny translation of the Les Mis quote too.
Yay, I’m glad I’m not the only fan of the Denny translation! :)
That Carl Sagan quote always makes me smile.
My post .
Yeah, it’s amazing :)
I collect bookish quotations in a lovely little notebook. How did you know?? LOL.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Haha I’m glad I’m not alone in that! :D
I love that Dumbledore one, it’s one of my favourites.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/09/29/top-ten-tuesday-283/
Thanks! It was hard to pick the best Dumbledore quotation but this one was the clear winner!
:)
Good Omens sounds like such a good book.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
It really is! :)
silver dollar quotations! i’ve found that Pratchett’s really resonate with me…
Thanks! Yeah, I adore the way he manages to say profound things simply and almost without you even realising it…
I’ve seen so many great quotes from both Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman this week, but I think you landed on my favorite from Good Omens.
Haha thanks, I knew I couldn’t make a list without including at least one quotation from Good Omens. :D