Friday, March 16, 2012

Fiction Friday: Favorite Literary Quotes

I think that if I had to pick just one quote in all of literature to be my absolute favorite, I’d probably be in trouble. There are so many literary quotes that I love, but here are some of my favorites:


“They’re funny things, Accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.” --Eeyore, The House at Pooh Corner, A. A. Milne

“'Please, Aslan,’ said Lucy. ‘What do you call soon?’
‘I call all times soon,’ said Aslan.” –The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis

“'There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter…. And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet…. But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants…. You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.’” --Mrs Whatsit, A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle

“'Rat!’ he found breath to whisper, shaking. ‘Are you afraid?’
‘Afraid?’ murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. ‘Afraid of Him? O, never, never! And yet-and yet-O, Mole, I am afraid!’” –The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

“'The Guide says that there is an art to flying,’ said Ford, ‘or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.’” –Life, the Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams

“'I’m sure Aslan would have, if you’d asked him,’ said Fledge.
‘Wouldn’t he know without being asked?’ said Polly.
‘I’ve no doubt he would,” said the Horse…. But I’ve a sort of idea he likes to be asked.’” –The Magician’s Nephew, C. S. Lewis

“There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.” --Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling

“Sam looked at him and wept in his heart, but no tears came to his dry and stinging eyes. ‘I said I’d carry him, if it broke my back,’ he muttered, ‘and I will!’
‘Come, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr. Frodo, dear! Sam will give you a ride. Just tell him where to go, and he’ll go.’” –The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien

"'...If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly.'
'Then he isn't safe?' said Lucy.
'Safe?' said Mr Beaver....  'Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe.  But he's good.  He's the King, I tell you.'" --The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis

“'This must be a Thursday,’ said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer. ‘I never could get the hang of Thursdays.’” –The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

"There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds." --"In Memoriam A.H.H." Alfred Lord Tennyson

“'Oh, Aslan,’ said Lucy. ‘Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?’
‘I shall be telling you all the time,” said Aslan. ‘But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.’” –The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think." --Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

I can’t think of an all-time favorite quote. I think the quote that I can personally relate to the most, though, is one that is spoken by Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien:

“I want to see mountains again, Gandalf—mountains; and then find somewhere where I can rest. In peace and quiet…. I might find somewhere where I can finish my book. I have thought of a nice ending for it: and he lived happily ever after till the end of his days.”

Mmm.

What are some of your favorite literary quotes?

3 comments:

  1. Good list!

    No one who had ever seen a real lion would have been taken in for a moment. But if someone who had never seen a lion looked at Puzzle in his lionskin, he just might mistake him for a lion, if he didn't come too close, and if the light was not too good, and if Puzzle didn't let out a bray and didn't make any noise with his hoofs. -- CS Lewis, The Last Battle

    “Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.
    "Yes, Piglet?"
    "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you.”
    ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

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  2. “Sonny, don't you tell me what's worthwhile- true love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. Everybody knows that.” Miracle Max in The Princess Bride

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  3. AH! Liz! What this post was missing was some Princess Bride quotes. Thank you for correcting my HUGE oversight!

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