40 of the best quotes from classic literature

The classics are classics for a reason. These timeless stories resonate decades or even centuries beyond when they were first written, offering insights into love, ambition, identity, and the human condition. And they still resonate with readers today—not just for their memorable plots or unconventional characters, but also through powerful lines that linger long after the final page.

Although the world has changed drastically from when some of these classics were written (we’ve traded telegrams for TikTok and corsets for crop tops), the truths they reveal remain strikingly relevant. After all, every modern girl surely understands Elizabeth Bennet when she declares, "My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me," or the aching hope of Jay Gatsby’s famous line: “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!”?

To celebrate the brilliance of classic literature, we’ve gathered 40 of our favorite quotes—some iconic, and others delightfully obscure. If you’ve ever wondered about the stories behind these famous lines, now’s the time to read the rest on the Libby app.

“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

“Hope is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul / And sings the tune without the words / And never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson, The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

“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 and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes, ‘Awww!’” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” – John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.” – Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi

“The strongest of all warriors are these two—Time and Patience.” – Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).” – Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

“When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Two worst things as can happen to a child is never to have his own way—or always to have it.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

“Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.” – Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

“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 epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” - William Shakespeare, Hamlet

“For neither good nor evil can last for ever; and so it follows that as evil has lasted a long time, good must now be close at hand.” – Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.” - Louisa May Alcott, Work

“Perhaps my sun shines not as yours. The colours that glorify my world, the blue of the sky, the green of the fields, may not correspond exactly with those you delight in; but they are none the less colour to me.” - Helen Keller, The World I Live In

“To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” – Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold...” – S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders

“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“It is good people who make good places.” – Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

"Become so very free that your whole existence is an act of rebellion." – Albert Camus, The Rebel

“It's enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.” – Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

“The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.” – Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

“You can't find someone who doesn't want to be found.” – Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits

“Sir, with no intention to take offence, I deny your right to put words into my mouth.” – Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.” – L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.” – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”– James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?” – Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“Ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies.” – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

*Title availability may vary.

Find more inspiring words on the Libby reading app from your library.

❤️ Love books as much as we do? Subscribe for a weekly newsletter with book recommendations and reading inspiration!

RELATED READ: 45 of the best literary quotes from our favorite books