Thanks again to the wonderful Tracey for hosting this linkup! A bit late to the party here, because I had thought I wouldn’t have any of my favourite books on hand to use for my favourite quotes. But then I went to go buy clothes at the thrift store this week, and came home with four books instead. In my defence, it was the entire LOTR trilogy in a nice box set AND Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, all for only $9.00! My bookworm heart was very happy, though my practical side was pretty miffed that I didn’t have the sense to buy myself some new jeans, dangit!
All that to say, my university bookshelf now looks like this:
and I can quote quotes from my favourite books!!!
The quotes:
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off – then, I account it high time to get to the sea as soon as I can.”
-Ishmael in Moby Dick by Herman Melville
“Wood cleared his throat for silence.
‘OK, men,’ he said.
‘And women,’ said Chaser Angelina Johnson.
‘And women,’ Wood agreed. ‘This is it.’
‘The big one,’ said Fred Weasley.
‘The one we’ve all been waiting for.’ said George.
‘We know Oliver’s speech by heart,’ Fred told Harry. ‘We were on the team last year.’
‘Shut up, you two,’ said Wood. ‘This is the best team Gryffindor’s had in years. We’re going to win. I know it.’
He glared at them all as if to say, ‘Or esle.’”
-Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling
“It was as if a door had opened somewhere. Or possibly a series of doors. There was a sensation as of a breeze blowing into the house and bringing with it the half-remembered scents of childhood. There was a shift in the light which seemed to cause all the shadows in the room to fall differently. There was nothing more definite than that, and yet, as often happens when some magic is occurring, both Drawlight and the lady had the strongest impression that nothing in the visible world could be relied upon any more. It was as if one might put one’s hand to touch any thing in the room and discover it was no longer there.”
-Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
“‘I have called you all together for a Purpose… Indeed, for three Purposes! First of all to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits.’ Tremendous outburst of approval.
‘I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.’ This was unexpected and rather difficult. There was some scattered clapping, but most of the were trying to work it out and see if it came to a compliment.”
-Bilbo in The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
Slight SPOILER warning:
“But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven; and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West. There still he stood far into the night, hearing only the sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-Earth, and the sound of them sank deep into his heart.”
-The Return of The King by JRR Tolkien
This is really just a sample of my favourite passages of writing. Honestly I could quote books all day…
So tell me, what are some of your favourite book quotes? Are any of the ones I chose on your top quotes list? Does anyone else find Oliver Wood as hilarious as I do?
March 6, 2016 at 2:51 pm
Good choices, LoTR is a gold mine of quotes.
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March 6, 2016 at 8:34 pm
Tolkien was a literary genius, that’s for sure. Honestly it was hard to keep myself to just a few quotes from LOTR. 🙂
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March 6, 2016 at 3:15 pm
Here are some of mine!
Filled with rapture, his soul yearned for freedom, space, vastness. Over him the heavenly dome, full of quiet, shining stars, hung boundlessly. From the zenith to the horizon the still-dim Milky Way stretched its double strand. Night, fresh and quiet, almost unstirring, enveloped the earth. The white towers and golden domes of the church gleamed in the sapphire sky. The luxuriant autumn asleep till morning. The silence of the earth seemed to merge with the silence of the heavens and the mystery of the earth touched the mystery of the stars.
-Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
This is how she believes life happens. A series of inconsequential junctions, any or none of which can lead to salvation or disaster. There are no grand moments where a person does or does not perform the act that defines their humanity. There are only moments that appear, briefly, to be this way.
-Steven Galloway, The Cellist of Sarajevo
Pidgin they expect, and pidgin they’ll listen to. But English from me they don’t listen to, and so they don’t understand it.
-John Steinbeck, East of Eden
(I could quote this whole book to you and say it’s my favourite quote. Have you read it yet????)
Suddenly it was like I was dying, the way I missed her. Like I was swooning, like I was going to fall over and pass out. It was like being shot in the back. It was such a surprise, but not a very good one. And then it went away. The way it does. But it exhausted me.
-Miriam Toews, A Complicated Kindness
And this one’s for you, my dear writer 🙂
This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity.
-Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
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March 6, 2016 at 8:38 pm
Ack those quotes are all so good! This summer you will have to lend me East of Eden (or is is R who has a copy??). I also need to read myself some Dostoyevski. So much to read, so little time to read it!
I love the quote from the Cellist of Sarajevo, too. I remember reading that passage several times over when I read the book because it was so beautiful. 🙂
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March 6, 2016 at 7:51 pm
I love these — especially Bilbo’s little speech (I’ve always found that part hilarious) and the quote from RotK because LOTR FEELS!!
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March 6, 2016 at 8:40 pm
SO MANY FEELS! Bilbo’s speech is amazing, makes me laugh out loud. And I couldn’t resist putting that last quote because it is a seriously beautiful piece of writing that wreaks my heart every time. Lemme grab a kleenex so we can cry over this together. 😛
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March 7, 2016 at 3:08 am
Tolkien books! But some of my sisters and my favourite quotes would be ones from the Rangers Apprentice series.
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March 7, 2016 at 4:12 pm
Man, I seriously need to read Rangers Apprentice! Maybe over the summer I’ll start them… :p
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March 8, 2016 at 5:40 pm
Great post. Sorry, but I’m not willing to spend the time to look up beautiful quotes, as Grace did so…Quiz time for you. Where were the characters, in what part of the story, in what book, at these moments:
Maps conveyed nothing to Sam’s mind.
“Have a biscuit, Potter.”
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.”
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March 8, 2016 at 9:34 pm
Challenge accepted! Quote 1: Fellowship of the Ring, in Rivendell, discussing how far it is to Mordor.
Quote 2: careers advice with McGonagall? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Quote 3: Jesus! Matt. 10:16 (ok, I cheated as looked up the reference for that one…)
That was fun! Thanks for the mini quiz. 😀
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March 13, 2016 at 12:24 am
I cheated. I sometimes write down quotes that I really like from books, so then I just looked at my list of good quotes.
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March 19, 2016 at 10:36 pm
First off, I am SO sorry for taking so ridiculously long to come and read/comment! (And for a participation in my own link up. Seriously.)
Secondly, Sarah, you are slowly eroding me. I think in another year or two, I just might pick up Harry Potter. XD
And oh! That Strange & Norrell one is gorgeous! You’ll be exceedingly happy to know…I bought a second-hand copy at a book fair a couple days ago! (It’s all because of you, dear.)
Ah, Bilbo. That’s one of my absolute favorite LotR quotes. ❤
P.S. I second Clare Farrelly: you really must read Ranger's Apprentice!
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March 19, 2016 at 11:25 pm
Excuse my while I do a happy dance because YOU BOUGHT JSandMrN!!! YAY! Oh, and I totally agree – Bilbo has some of the best quotes in both the Hobbit and LOTR. That perfect mix of hilarious and serious. His speech is simply golden. 😀
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March 20, 2016 at 4:05 pm
YOU LIVE IN CANADA I DID NOT KNOW THAT HOW IS CANADA HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT DONALD TRUMP DO YOU PLAY HOCKEY DO YOUR BANK NOTES SMELL OF MAPLE SYRUP???
Sorry. I had to get that out of the way.
Ooh, Jonathan Strange. I own that book, yet I’ve never gotten into it. Is it good?
Amy;
Little Moon Elephant
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March 23, 2016 at 10:26 am
I do live in Canada! It’s great. No joke currently snowing. Happy Canadian spring! I don’t think Donald Trump should be president of the US. I do not play hockey, but I can skate. And though the Canadian Mint claims otherwise, our new bills smell like maple syrup. But only if they’re brand new and you’ve been told they smell like it…
I love Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell so much! Highly highly recommend! 😀
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