100 sentences from famous books and writers (essential)
Throughout history, literary works have been written that have left phrases to be framed, that is to say, phrases from books written by great authors that have been left to be remembered.
Some of them talk about love, others are reflexive phrases and others are motivating phrases . Now, what these phrases have in common is that they are full of a deep and sure feeling that will make you think. That is why in this article we have decided to collect the best phrases from books.
If you are a lover of reading, first of all, we invite you to read the following articles:
- The 50 Recommended Books to Read Throughout Your Life
- The 25 Best Psychology Books You Can’t Miss
- Top 10 Self-Help and Self-Improvement Books
- The 8 Most Useful Books in Educational Psychology for Parents
Best Book Phrases
Here are the best phrases from books , which collect reflections, opinions and essential experiences. Let’s start.
1. The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced (Duna, Frank Herbert)
The importance of the experience is what really makes us live. Only in this one can we know the mystery of life .
2. Being alone has nothing to do with how many people are around (Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates)
Loneliness is a feeling that is usually associated with great sadness. You can have many people around you, but feel incredibly lonely.
3. Be a man or be more than a man Be firm in your purpose and firm as a stone (Frankenstein, Mary Shelley)
You have to keep going and not leave your aspirations behind . Only then will you continue to feel alive.
4. The weak man becomes strong when he has nothing, because only then can he feel the madness of despair (The White Company, Arthur Conan Doyle)
It’s at the worst times when we can grow more than ever. We must learn from the bad
5. If you seek perfection you will never be happy (Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy)
Perfectionists are incredibly unhappy.
- If you want to know more about perfectionism, you can visit our article: Perfectionist personality: the disadvantages of perfectionism
6. While the heart beats, while body and soul are still together, I cannot admit that any creature endowed with will needs to lose hope in life (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne)
A great phrase pronounced by Jules Verne in his most famous work.
7. I can’t die yet, doctor. Not yet. I have things to do. After all, I’ll have a whole life to die in (The Angel Game, Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn)
The strength of hope keeps us alive in the most delicate moments.
8. I Have Hope or Might Not Live (The Island of Dr. Moreau, H.G. Wells)
As in the previous point, without hope we have nothing left .
9. I call people “rich” when they are able to satisfy the needs of their imagination (Portrait of a Lady, Henry James)
A prayer by Henry James that speaks of the thoughts of rich people.
10. The sun is weak when it rises first, and gains strength and courage as the day goes on (Old Curio Shop, Charles Dickens)
Beautiful words that express the greatness of the sun, the star that gives us light and warmth .
11. It is in the nights of December, when the thermometer is at zero, that we think most about the sun (Les Misérables, Victor Hugo)
This sentence reminds us that if we don’t value something when we have it , when we lose it we miss it
12. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it, lived and dreamed about it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone lowers his eyes to the pages, his spirit grows and becomes stronger (La Sombra del Viento, Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn)
Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn , one of the great Spanish writers, tells us about the immensity of books and how passionate writers are when they bring their stories to life.
13. My advice is: never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time (David Copperfield, Charles Dickens)
Charles Dickens tells us that we should not be procrastinators.
- Do you want to know what procrastination is or the “I’ll do it tomorrow” syndrome? For all the information, click here
14. Fight to the Last Breath (Henry VI, William Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare , the well-known English playwright, poet and actor, gives us a great motivating sentence.
15. Getting what you want is as hard as not getting what you want. Because then you have to figure out what to do with it, instead of figuring out what to do without it. (The Realm of Possibility, David Levithan)
David Levithan expresses that we humans are non-conformists. When we get what we want, then we want more.
16. Stop worrying about getting old and think about growing up (The Dying Animal, Philip Roth)
To be happy you have to think about growing continuously and you have to continue to develop.
17. I would create a perfume that was not only human, but superhuman. An angel’s scent, so indescribably good and full of vigor that whoever smelled it would be bewitched and would have no choice but to love the person who wore it, that is, to love him, Grenouille, with all his heart (The Perfume, Patrick SĂĽskind)
A romantic phrase that was pronounced in “The Perfume”, a work by Patrick SĂĽskind .
18. How wonderful it is that no one needs to wait a single moment before starting to make the world a better place! (The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank)
Anne Frank was one of the best-known victims of the Nazi Holocaust. In her diary, she wrote this beautiful thought.
19. You think you know all your chances. Then other people come into your life and suddenly there are many more (The Realm of Possibility, David Levithan)
The possibilities increase as we meet new people. The important thing is to be on the move. That’s how things come.
20. There is nothing in the world, neither man nor devil nor anything else, that is as suspicious to me as love, for it penetrates the soul more than anything else. There is nothing that occupies and binds the heart more than love. Therefore, when it does not have weapons to govern itself, the soul sinks, through love, into the deepest of ruins (The Name of the Rose, Umberto Echo)
This statement by Umberto Eco refers to how love floods us, and how lack of love is capable of leaving us dead in life.
21. Whoever you are, whatever you do, when you firmly desire something, it is because this desire was born in the soul of the universe. It is your mission on earth (The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho)
Paulo Coelho explains that when we have a passion in life, we must fight for it.
22. Suddenly he slid down the corridor, as he passed by me his amazing golden pupils stopped for a moment in mine. I must have died a little. I could not breathe and my pulse stopped (The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende)
A phrase from the book “The House of the Spirits”, in which a love affair lived in the first person is related .
One of those situations where we come across someone we’re very attracted to. Time stands still.23. Man goes much further to avoid what he fears than to achieve what he desires (The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown)
Negative situations can be positive to help us grow and develop as people.
24. Our lives are defined by opportunities, even those we miss (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The opportunities we miss, whether we like it or not, are also part of our lives and they mark us.
25. Not all that is of gold shines, nor all the wandering people are lost (The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien)
A sentence to reflect on, taken from the famous work: “The Lord of the Rings”.
26. Love and desire are two different things; that not everything that is loved is desired, nor is everything that is desired loved (Don Quixote de la Mancha, Miguel de Cervantes)
Miguel de Cervantes separates what is love from what is desire.
27. When you have been comforted, you will be happy to have met me (The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupèry)
An ironic phrase that can be found on one of the pages of “The Little Prince” by Antoine Saint-Exupèry.
28. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the age of belief, it was the age of disbelief, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair (A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens)
This is a phrase taken from the great text of Charles Dickens “History of the Cities”.
29. And once the bad smells of the past had dissipated, I now wanted to flood it with fragrances (The Perfume, Patrick SĂĽskind)
When you get over the bad things that may have happened to you, the future and the present seem less bad.
30. It will be very difficult for me to avenge all those who have to be avenged, because my revenge would be no more than another part of the same inexorable rite (La Casa de los EspĂritus, Isabel Allende)
Revenge is not a good option , so you have to leave your grudges behind
- So, what are the people with a grudge like? You can find out in this text: Spiteful people: 10 traits and attitudes that characterize them
31. I know who I was this morning when I woke up, but I think I must have changed several times since then (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)
People can change their moods throughout the day. This is normal
32. I am not a bird and no net can catch me. I am a free human being with an independent will (Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte)
Human beings, at least in the West, have the great virtue of deciding to be free and independent.
33. The greatest adventure is the one that awaits us. Today and tomorrow have not yet been said. The possibilities, the changes are all yours to make. The mould of your life in your hands is to be broken (The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien)
We can, at least to a great extent, choose the path we want to follow in life . It is up to us to strive to achieve the goals we have in mind.
34. I feel like I am moving forward as well as away from something, and anything is possible (American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis)
A sentence pronounced in the great novel by Bret Easton Ellis , entitled “American Psycho”.
35. If people simply love others just a little, they can be very happy (Germinal, Émile Zola)
How different the world would be if people only cared a little about each other,
36. You never know what bad luck has saved you from worse luck (Not a country for old men, Cormac Mccarthy)
A fine irony that expresses that, despite bad luck, things could always go worse .
37. I don’t like to work – no man does – but I like what’s in the job – the opportunity to find yourself. Your own reality – for you, not for others – what no other man can know (Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad)
The work may be heavy many times, but work is synonymous with health.
38. Alicia: How long is forever? White Rabbit: Sometimes just a second (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)
A thought-provoking sentence about time by Lewis Carroll .
39. The worst thing about religion was the religious people (The Wedding Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides)
Some words from Jeffrey Eugenides that speak about the religious theme.
40. The mind makes its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven (Paradise Lost, John Milton)
John Milton refers to the fact that our mind is powerful. It is not the events that cause us suffering, but how we interpret these events.
41. Ammu said that human beings were creatures of habit, and that it was amazing the kind of things they could get used to (The god of small things, Arundhati Roy)
Habitation is a very common type of learning in humans. It’s part of our species.
42. Love those you love while you have them. That’s all you can do. Let them go when you must. If you know how to love, you will never escape. (My name is memory, Ann Brashares)
You must love and respect the people for whom you have a special affection
43. There are people who, the more you do for them, the less they do for themselves (Emma, Jane Austen)
If you do a lot for someone, they get used to it and become dependent . It is a problem that can be prevented by taking certain precautions.
44. There are books whose backs and covers are by far the best part (Oliver Twist, Charles Dickes)
Not all books are masterpieces . And in fact, some of them are even not worth reading.
45. The world was so recent that many things had no name, and to mention them one had to point them out (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel GarcĂa Marquez)
The world, and specifically human beings, have been evolving over the centuries.
46. Older people can never understand anything on their own and it is very boring for children to have to give them explanations over and over again (The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
A sarcastic phrase that can be found in Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ry’s book, “The Little Prince”.
47. When you feel like criticizing someone, remember that not everyone has had the same opportunities you had (The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Criticism is easy, and criticism is not always justified. That’s why, before carrying them out, you have to be very clear about the reasons.
- Related article: “10 Tips to Better Fit the Critics”
48. Life changes fast. Life changes in an instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends (The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion)
You have to make the most of life because it goes by very fast . You have to stop complaining and enjoy it.
49. Do you know what happens when you hurt people? Ammu said. When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That is what careless words do. They make people love you a little less. (The god of small things, Arundhati Roy)
People who love you have to be taken care of . Because if not, we can hurt them.
50. When you are afraid but you do it anyway, that is bravery (Coraline, Neil Gaiman)
Courage is a very positive quality that we can possess as individuals , and it helps us to overcome great obstacles.
51. We must be careful with books and what is inside them, since words have the power to change us (The Mechanical Angel, Cassandra Clare)
Words can be very powerful and have an effect on our thoughts.
52. Friendship is surely the best balm for the pains of love disappointment (Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen)
This phrase refers to another popular phrase that says: “he who has a friend has a treasure”.
53. We tell ourselves stories to live (The White Album, Joan Didion)
Joan Didion , talks about how, after all, we all live the story of our lives.
54. Speaking nonsense is the only privilege that humanity possesses over other organisms. It is by talking nonsense that one comes to the truth. I speak nonsense, therefore I am human (Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The great Dostoevsky leaves us this pearl to reflect on how we come to give meaning to our lives.
55. You can’t say “no” to the people you love, not often. That’s the secret. And when you do, it has to sound like a “yes” or you have to make them say “no.” (The Godfather, Mario Puzo)
It’s hard to love someone and have to mention the word “no” to them. Still, sometimes it’s necessary.
56. Others will write from the head, but he writes from the heart, and the heart always understands him (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories, Washington Irving)
It is from the soul that the best stories are written, because it allows you to give free rein to creativity and authentic emotions.
57. If you want to know what a man looks like, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals (Harry Potter and the Chalice, Fire by J.K. Rowling)
Our behaviors are a reflection of who we are. They are a reflection of our thoughts.
58.All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time. (The Five People You Will Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom)
When something ends, it is a chance to start something new . One more chance to be happy.
59. The wands are as powerful as the witches who use them. Some witches like to boast that they are bigger and better than other people (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling)
It is not the wand that does good or evil, but it is the people who use it that decide what to do with it.
60. People find it much easier to forgive others for being wrong than for being right. (The Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling)
A nice line from J.K. Rowling on forgiveness. Should we or should we not forgive who has hurt us? You know the answer here.
61. Have you ever fallen in love? Isn’t it awful? It makes you so vulnerable. Open your chest and open your heart and it means that someone can enter you and undo you (The Benevolent Ones, Neil Gaiman)
To be closed to love is a great suffering and can cause serious emotional problems . That is why you have to open up and love.
62. Happiness can be found, even in the darkest times, only if one remembers to turn on the light (The Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling)
Even in bad moments, you have to turn on the happiness switch so as not to live anchored in suffering .
63. In the afternoon he went to see the “Lord of the Rings” movie, which he had not had time to see before. He thought that orcs, unlike humans, were simple, uncomplicated creatures (The Girl with the Tattooed Dragon, Stieg Larsson)
We human beings are experts in the art of making life difficult for ourselves.
64. It’s strange to think that when you’re afraid of something that’s going to happen and you wish time would start to slow down, time usually passes more quickly (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling)
Recreating in worries is not a good thing . In fact, thinking negative can lead to what is known as self-fulfilling prophecy.
66. Reflecting calmly, very calmly, is better than making desperate decisions (The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka)
Self-reflection is key to mental and emotional well-being.
- Therefore, we invite you to read the following article: “Personal Development: 5 reasons for self-reflection”
67. She was so impressed by his enormous nakedness that she felt the urge to go backwards (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez)
This is a beautiful extract from the book “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez .
68. It is better to look at the sky than to live there (Breakfast with Diamonds, Truman Capote)
Heaven is there to behold. Living there would mean that our end has come.
69. In spite of you, me and the world that is falling apart, I love you (Gone with the Wind, Margareth Mitchell)
When love is so intense, there is nothing that can separate you from that special person.
70. Joy sometimes causes a strange effect; it oppresses the heart almost as much as pain (Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas)
I’m sure this sentence from the book by Alejandro Dumas will make you think and reflect.
71. Walking in a straight line, one cannot go very far (The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupèry)
If we want to grow, we have to try different paths. In other words, get out of the comfort zone.
72. What a treacherous thing to think that a person is more than a person (Paper Towns, John Green)
One must be humble in this life , because not everyone has the same opportunities.
73. Each one should be asked what he can do (The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupèry)
Don’t be hard on people . You can’t expect more from someone than they can offer.
74. When a woman remarries it is because she hated her first husband. When a man remarries it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs (The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde)
An ironic sentence by Oscar Wilde that talks about the risk men take when they get married.
75. Death Destroys Man: The Idea of Death Saves Him (Howards End, E. M. Forster)
Sometimes, thinking about death can help people not take excessive risks that could end up badly.
76. True, you can almost always find something, if you look, but it is not always what you are looking for (The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien)
Being on the move gives us new opportunities . Although they are not always what we had planned, they may be positive.
77. The supreme joy of life is the conviction that we are loved, loved by ourselves; better said, loved in spite of us (Les Misérables, Victor Hugo)
It is not easy to love oneself, but sometimes we are our own enemies.
78. No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched (George Jean Nathan)
George Jean Nathan opposes reason and feelings in a very lyrical way. One of the most quoted phrases in literature
79. A man who is a master of patience is a master of everything else (George Savile)
The power of patience and the ability to manage time well, in one wise phrase.
80. Someone who does not believe in miracles is not realistic (David Ben-Gurion)
About the anomalies and unexplainable facts contained in reality.
81. There is no sadder vision than that of a young pessimist (Mark Twain)
Mark Twain is referring here to the value associated with youth and the possibility that we will despise it.
82. Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad dinner (Francis Bacon)
Hope as something that has a double edge: it is positive when a whole world of possibilities opens up before us, but not so much when it is the last resort.
83. Education is the movement from darkness to light (Allan Bloom)
A powerful image to explain what education is.
84. The risk of a bad decision is preferable to the terror of indecision (Maimonides)
This philosopher from Muslim Cordoba talks about the negatives of indecision and the paralysis of analysis.
85. A mind needs a book like a sword needs its whetstone (George R. R. Martin)
One of the fashionable writer’s witty phrases in the world of fantasy literature.
86. What is proven today could only be imagined (William Blake)
This quote refers to the perspective with which we should take what seems impossible.
87. Only the educated are free (Epictetus)
Education as an engine of freedom and autonomy.
88. All knowledge is hurtful (Cassandra Clare)
A wise phrase referring to the way in which each new piece of knowledge disrupts the foundations of what we thought we knew.
89. Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom (Thomas Jefferson)
For Thomas Jefferson, these two values are closely related.
90. Every society is three meals away from chaos (Lenin)
The Soviet politician and revolutionary, on the fragility of the cohesions formed within a country.
91. You don’t say I broke to eat or I broke to walk. You break to cry or to laugh. I think those feelings are worth shattering (Albert Espinosa)
A phrase that emphasizes the human character of crying.
92. Time is what we want most and also what we use the most (William Penn)
A paradox raised by the English philosopher William Penn. To be aware that life is there to be made the most of.
93. Freedom is never given; it is always earned (Asa Philip Randolph)
About the effort and sacrifices needed to win freedom.
94. Once you have something to do, it’s better to do it than to live in fear because of it (Joe Abercrombie)
Another of the writers in vogue in the medieval fantasy world offers us this reflection on the pending accounts.
95. Man is the only creature that refuses to be who he is (Albert Camus)
Albert Camus, in one of his philosophical phrases about the struggle that human beings maintain with the creation of a meaning for their existence.
96. Creativity requires that courage be detached from certainties (Erich Fromm)
The father of humanistic psychoanalysis, on the relationship between courage and uncertainty.
97. The best part of beauty is that which no image can express (Francis Bacon)
Francis Bacon, about that part of beauty that cannot be shown.
98. Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it (Edmund Burke)
Conservative philosopher Edmund Burke, on the need to know the past.
99. Nothing is so incredible that oratory cannot make it acceptable (Cicero)
Cicero talks about the power of well-designed speeches.
100. A small spark can ignite a flame (Dante)
A wise phrase in which one can see, through a poetic image, the unsuspected ways in which very important and significant phenomena can appear.