17 of the most unforgettable last lines in books

“So that, in the end, there was no end.” – last line in The Tree of Man by Patrick White

With thousands of sentences in a book, it’s often the last that gets the glory. Just as important as the opening line of a book, the final one leaves a lasting impression that will keep us wondering for weeks. While many closing lines answer all of our lingering questions, others leave us with more. They can be poetic or memorable, biting or comforting, sad or satisfying—and they have the power to make or break your experience as the reader.

With this year’s chapter coming to a close, we take a look at some of the most unforgettable endings in literature. Most are iconic, but there are also a few less recognizable endings that are just as striking. To avoid spoilers, we won’t offer commentary. Plus, they tend to stand on their own, even without reading the book (though we’d highly recommend it).

Read these final farewells along with the rest of the story on the Libby app—free from your library.

“He loved Big Brother.”

1984 by George Orwell
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"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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“Anne’s diary ends here.”

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
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"But see how fast the smoke rises—oh, even faster when we laugh, lifting our hopes, higher and higher."

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan
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“Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?”

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
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"Isn't it pretty to think so?"

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
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“All was well.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
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“It was a fine cry—loud and long—but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.”

Sula by Toni Morrison
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“There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
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"'Well, I'm back,' he said."

The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
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"And I finally began like this: When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two of things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home..."

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
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"I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be."

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
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"The eyes and the faces all turned themselves toward me, and guiding myself by them, as by a magical thread, I stepped into the room."

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
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"In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
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“We lie there together, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder, and waiting for the beginning of a rainy dawn.”

Legend by Marie Lu
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"She opened the door wide and let him into her life again."

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
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“How wild it was, to let it be.”

Wild by Cheryl Strayed
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*Title availability may vary by library & region.

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