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100 Book Quotes Writing Challenge |
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I’m sure many of you had seen this coming. Because of how popular my 100 Quotes Writing Challenge from films and tv shows was, it was only a matter of time that I made one for literature as well.
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.” – Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
“One must be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.” – Tessa Gray, The Infernal Devices Series: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (2010)
“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” – Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
“I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed.” – Christabel LaMotte, Possession by A. S. Byatt (1990)
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” – Paul, Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” – Edgar Allan Poe, Eleonora by Edgar Allan Poe (1841)
“Destroying things is much easier than making them.” – Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (200 cool
“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected one.” – Tsukiko, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (2011)
“There you go…let it all slide out. Unhappiness can’t stick in a person’s soul when it’s slick with tears.” – Doter, Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (2006)
“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” – Daniel’s Father, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2001)
“…if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn.” – Du Parc, Mrs. Dymond by Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1885)
“When someone is crying, of course, the noble thing to do is to comfort them. But if someone is trying to hide their tears, it may also be noble to pretend you do not notice them.” – Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler (1999)
“The sun was rising behind her now; she could feel the heat on her back, and it gave her courage.” – William Goldman, The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)
“The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.” – Albus Chase, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (2011)
“Hope? Hope can be a powerful force. Maybe there’s no actual magic in it, but when you know what you hope for most and hold it like a light within you, you can make things happen, almost like magic.” – Madrigal, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (2011)
“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.” – Monte Cristo, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844)
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” – Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (181 cool
“Remember, my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker.” – Abraham van Helsing, Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)
“It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities.” – Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
“Perhaps it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.” – Valentine, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)
“It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.” – Medical Man, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (1895)
“Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.” – Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1990)
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with independent will, which I now exert to leave you.” – Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)
“Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies.” – Isabella Linton, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)
“Burdens are for shoulders strong enough to carry them.” – Scarlett O'Hara, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
“If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.” – Eddard Stark, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (1996)
“You can’t argue with all the fools in the world. It’s better to let them have their way, then trick them when they’re not paying attention.” – Brom, Eragon by Christopher Paolini (2003)
“I do not cling to life sufficiently to fear death.” – D’Artagnan, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (1844)
“Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” – Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (1990)
“Children are caterpillars and adults are butterflies. No butterfly ever remembers what it felt like being a caterpillar.” – Riccio, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (2000)
“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 anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” – Atticus, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)
“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.” – Mark Watney, The Martian by Andy Weir (2011)
“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.” – Genly Ai, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)
“I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” – Professor Bernardo de la Paz, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein (1966)
“I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.” – Darrow, Red Rising by Pierce Brown (2014)
“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” – Ralph Ellison, Invisible Men by Ralph Ellison (1952)
“…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…” – Sal, On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)
“We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.” – Offred, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
“It’s much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it.” – Anna, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877)
“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.” – The Man, The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
“We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won’t do harm - yes, choose a place where you won’t do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.” – Mr. Emerson, A Room With A View by E.M. Forster (190 cool
“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” – Kafka, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2002)
“No one forgets the truth; they just get better at lying.” – April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (1961)
“I know. I was there. I saw the great void in your soul, and you saw mine.” – Stephen Wraysford, Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (1993)
“None of those other things makes a difference. Love is the strongest thing in the world, you know. Nothing can touch it. Nothing comes close. If we love each other we’re safe from it all. Love is the biggest thing there is.” – Ishmael Chambers, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (1994)
“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.” – Red, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Different Seasons by Stephen King (1982)
“Fight till the last gasp.” – Joan, Henry VI: Part One by William Shakespeare (1914)
“The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” – Master Humphrey, The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens (1841)
“They wanted to speak, but could not; tears stood in their eyes. They were both pale and thin; but those sick pale faces were bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life. They were renewed by love; the heart of each held infinite sources of life for the heart of the other.” – Fyodor, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866)
“You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action.” – Wharton, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham (1915)
“I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.” – Dr. Rieux, The Plague by Albert Camus (194 cool
“What is the point of worrying oneself too much about what one could or could not have done to control the course one’s life took? Surely it is enough that the likes of you and I at least try to make our small contribution count for something true and worthy. And if some of us are prepared to sacrifice much in life in order to pursue such aspirations, surely that in itself, whatever the outcome, cause for pride and contentment.” – Stevens, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
“Reading is sometimes thought of as a form of escapism, and it’s a common turn of phrase to speak of getting lost in a book. But a book can also be where one finds oneself; and when a reader is grasped and held by a book, reading does not feel like an escape from life so much as it feels like an urgent, crucial dimension of life itself.” – Rebecca Mead, My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead (2014)
“There’s the story, then there’s the real story, then there’s the story of how the story came to be told. Then there’s what you leave out of the story. Which is part of the story too.” – Margaret Atwood, MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (2013)
“Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” – Four, Divergent by Veronica Roth (2011)
“Don’t be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.” – Narrator, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (1975)
“It’s just that…I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It’s the universe’s way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It’s how life is.” – Delia, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (2004)
“Maybe who we are isn’t so much about what we do, but rather what we’re capable of when we least expect it.” – Anna, My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (2003)
“People never really died. They only went on to a better place, to wait a while for their loved ones to join them. And then once more they went back to the world, in the same way they had arrived the first time around.” – Cathy Dollanganger, Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews (1979)
“The sober devil can hide his cloven hoof; but when the devil drinks he loses his cunning and grows honest.” – Narrator, Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope (1874)
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: We all want everything to be okay. We don’t even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough.” – A, Every Day by David Levithan (2012)
“Just as a river by night shines with the reflected light of the moon, so too do you shine with the light of your family, your people, and your God. So you are never far from home, never alone, wherever you go.” – Old Woman, Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman (1994)
“I know that the whole point—the only point—is to find the things that matter, and hold on to them, and fight for them, and refuse to let them go.” – Lauren Oliver, Delirium by Lauren Oliver (2011)
“It’s a lot easier to be lost than found. It’s the reason we’re always searching and rarely discovered—so many locks not enough keys.” – Ruby Cooper, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (200 cool
“[She] had always suffered from a vague restlessness, a longing for adventure that she told herself severely was the result of reading too many novels when she was a small child.” – Narrator, The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (1982)
“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything…affects everything.” – Hannah Baker, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (2007)
“I am coming to terms with the fact that loving someone requires a leap of faith, and that a soft landing is never guaranteed.” – Remy Starr, This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen (2002)
“If I could have broken his neck I would have, just for the pleasure of the silence after the snap.” – Kathe Koja, The Cipher by Kathe Koja (1991)
“I do not know what manner of thing she is. None of us do.” – The Queen, Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman (1994)
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.“ – Second Witch, Macbeth by William Shakespeare (1611)
“Perhaps other souls than human are sometimes born into the world, and clothed in flesh.” – Lady Knollys, Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1864)
“The absence of the soul is far more terrible in a living man than in a dead one.” – Narrator, Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens (1841)
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Narrator, The Lion and the Mouse by Aesop (1870)
“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin, The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne (192 cool
“We cross our bridges as we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and the presumption that once our eyes watered.” – Guildenstern, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (1990)
“She wanted to go back. She wanted to be a little girl again, the one who thought getting high meant being pushed on the swing and pain was falling off her bike.” – Narrator, Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang (2004)
“Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don’t know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right.” – Elise Dembowski, This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales (2013)
“There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” – Macy, The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (2004)
“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” – Patroclus, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2012)
“Silence is a protective coating over pain.” – E. Lockhart, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (2014)
“A thousand moments that I had just taken for granted - mostly because I had assumed that there would be a thousand more.” – Taylor Edwards, Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson (2012)
“It would be too easy to say that I feel invisible. Instead, I feel painfully visible, and entirely ignored.” – A, Every Day by David Levithan (2012)
“There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away.” – Arnold Spirit Jr., The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2007)
“Only the united beat of sex and heart together can create ecstasy.” – Narrator, Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin (1977)
“When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. …For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away.” – Iannis, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières (1994)
“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.” – Djuna, The Four-Chambered Heart by Anaïs Nin (1950)
“Tell the truth, or someone will tell it for you.” – Stephanie Klein, Straight Up and Dirty by Stephanie Klein (2006)
“The saddest people I’ve ever met in life are the ones who don’t care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there’s nothing to make it last.” – John Tyree, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (2006)
“Sometimes you have to lie. But to yourself you must always tell the truth.” – Harriet, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humor.” – Narrator, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1843)
“You must never feel badly about making mistakes…as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.” – Reason, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (1961)
“Words can be worrisome, people complex, motives and manners unclear. Grant her the wisdom to choose her path right, free from unkindness and fear.” – Narrator, Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman (2009)
“Who knows, my friend? Maybe the sword does have some magic. Personally, I think it’s the warrior who wields it.” – Squire Julian, Redwall by Brian Jacques (1999)
“Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” – Narrator, The Minpins by Roald Dahl (1991)
“Keep all your promises, don’t take what doesn’t belong to you, and always look after those less fortunate than yourself, and you’ll do well in the world.” – Mr. Bingle, The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rebecca Rupp (199 cool
“There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.” – Narrator, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (2003)
“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 it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” – Narrator, The Twits by Roald Dahl (1980)
“There’s a funny thing I’ve noticed about life. When you really dread something, it turns out not to be so bad. It’s the unexpected awful things that get you down.” – Anna, Red Sky in the Morning by Elizabeth Laird (198 cool
“Lying eats into the soul. If it becomes a habit it frays the edge of your spirit. Truth telling, although sometimes harder to do, strengthens your heart. It serves a person ill not to tell the truth.” – Leonardo da Vinci, The Medici Seal by Theresa Breslin (2006)
“You can betray someone with a word or an action. You can betray them with silence or inaction too. And in betraying that one person, you can betray a whole world.” – Candleriggs, Exodus by Julie Bertagna (2002)
You have free reign with this! Use it for fanfiction – write a drabble (100-500 words), ficlet (500-1000 words) or one-shot (1000 words or more). It can be for any genre or fandom. Or it can be used for original works as well. You don’t need to follow the order this is in or use all the quotes. All that I ask, is that you at least pick five quotes (or ten, actually pick however many you want) from the list, and write a short scene or story using them in it. Or write something that was inspired by it. That is all.
Note: Be sure to mention in the summary or author’s note that you’re doing Ghostflowerdream’s 100 Book Quotes Writing Challenge.
 DamnBlackHeart · Thu Feb 25, 2016 @ 05:27pm · 0 Comments |
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