59 Best Classic Literature Quotes From Best Loved Authors

Books are our best travel companions.

We have many classic books from our ancient literature that impact many people, emotionally, behaviorally & morally. They are written by the writers, a piece of their writings are often remembered, stay with us for a very long time, influencing our value systems.

There is always a pleasant feeling when one comes across words that once impacted them for quite some time. It might be apt to quote the sayings of Cliff Fadiman, "When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before." So, here we have collected some of such best products to share with you.

If you are looking for more quotes then, you may want to check our similar articles on [Pride and Prejudice quotes] and Jane Eyre quotes might interest you as much!
 

'Wuthering Heights', 'Great Expectations', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'The Great Gatsby', 'Hamlet', etc are considered English literature classics.

1."Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

- Emily Bronte, 'Wuthering Heights'

2."It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

- J.K. Rowling, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'

3."Not all those who wander are lost."

- J R R Tolkein, 'The Lord of the Rings'

From the most famous love story ever, Romeo and Juliet:

4."But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

- William Shakespeare, 'Romeo and Juliet'

We've classic love quotes from literature by Shakespeare:

5."I will wear him; In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart."

- William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet'

6."We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our one little life is rounded with a sleep."

- William Shakespeare, 'The Tempest'

From the poem Ulysses, where Ulysses realizes that times changed, and he has to fight against his aging process after he returned from his ten-year voyage:

7."Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

- Alfred Lord Tennyson, 'Ulysses'

Literature is an art of expression. An expression of emotions, and feelings through words. Some literary works are remembered for long as they create a deeper impact on the reader's mind. Here we bring some famous literary quotes for you.

8."You are a wonderful creation. You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know."

- Oscar Wilde,'The Picture of Dorian Gray'

9."I assure you that the world is not so amusing as something we imagined."

- Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, 'Dangerous Liaisons'

10."One day I will find the right words, and they all will be simple."

- Jack Kerouac, 'The Dharma Bums'

11."The author says one character's definition of a classic is any book he'd heard of before he was thirty."

- Sinclair Lewis, 'It Can't Happen Here'

12."There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

- Zora Neale Hurston, 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'

13."Sometimes, I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

- Lewis Carroll, 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'

14."The best teacher is experienced and not through someone's distorted point of view"

- Jack Kerouac, 'On the Road'

15."Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion."

- Jane Austen, 'Pride and Prejudice'

16."I felt purged and holy and ready for a new life."

- Sylvia Plath, 'The Bell Jar: A Novel Classic'

17."Every atom of your flesh is dear to me as my own: In pain and sickness it would still be dear"

-Charlotte Brontë, 'Jane Eyre'

18."I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, 'The Great Gatsby'

19."Time, which sees all things, has found you out."

- Sophocles, 'Oedipus the King'

20."They looked at each other, baffled, in love and hate."

- William Golding, 'Lord of the Flies'

21."It’s funny. All one has to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to."

- J D Salinger

22."I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life."

- F Scott Fitzgerald, 'The Great Gatsby'

On the subject of courage, a father, Atticus, says the following quote to his son, Jem from famous classic:

23."Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."

- Harper Lee,' To Kill a Mockingbird'

A quote from Winnie-the-Pooh poem:

24."A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise."

- A.A. Milne,' When We Were Very Young'

There's a quote by Douglas Adams that people have recognized more than his book:

25."The Answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Universe and Everything is…42!"

- Douglas Adams, 'The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy'

Let's continue with the author of the famous 'Great Expectations', 'A Tale of Two Cities', & many more novels, Charles Dickens!

26.“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known.”

- Charles Dickens, 'A Tale of Two Cities'

27."There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”

- Charles Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol'

28."I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”

- Charles Dickens, 'Great Expectations'

29."Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts."

- Charles Dickens

30."The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again."

- Charles Dickens, 'Nicholas Nickleby'

31."I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul."

- Charles Dickens, 'A Tale of Two Cities'

32."Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him."

- Charles Dickens, 'David Copperfield'

33."There was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth."

- Charles Dickens, 'Great Expectations'

As Italo Calvino said, "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say," people do have lot more classic book quotes to ponder upon. Here is another list of our best classic quotes including classic literature quotes about friendship. You can use a quote or two to share your thoughts with your near and dear ones.

33."And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better"

- George Eliot, 'Middlemarch'

34."I gave my whole heart up, for him to hold."

- Geoffrey Chaucer, 'The Canterbury Tales'

35."If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love"

- George Orwell, '1984'

36."Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars"

-  J.R.R. Tolkein , 'The Lord of the Rings'

37."What's the good of a home if you are never in it?"

- George & Weedon Grossmith, 'The Diary of a Nobody'

38."All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

- J.R.R. Tolkein, 'The Fellowship of the Ring'

39."That is the one unforgivable sin in any society. Be different and be damned!"

- Margaret Mitchell, 'Gone with the Wind'

40."Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old"

- Jonathan Swift, 'Gulliver's Travels'

41."Here let dead poetry rise once more to life."

- Dante Alighieri, 'The Divine Comedy'

42."Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful."

- Mary Shelley, 'Frankenstein'

43."Predominant options are generally the opinions of the generation that is vanishing"

- Flora Rheta Schreiber, 'Sybil x'

44."Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children"

- William Makepeace Thackeray, 'Vanity Fair'

45."It had already occurred to him that books were stuff, and that life was stupid."

- George Eliot, 'Middlemarch'

46."The world is full of places to which I want to return"

- Ford Madox Ford

47."I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!"

- Nathaniel Hawthorne, 'The Scarlet Letter'

48."I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go it laughing"

- Herman Melville, 'Moby-Dick'

49."Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 'The Little Prince'

50."It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then"

- Lewis Carroll, 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'

51."If you tell the truth you do not need a good memory!"

- Mark Twain, 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'

52."It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

- Jane Austen, 'Pride and Prejudice'

53."It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 'The Little Prince'

54."I have got key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen."

- Louisa May Alcott, 'Little Women'

55."Whatever happens to your body, your soul will survive, untouched..."

- J.K. Rowling, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'

56."Life is not always perfect. Like a road, it has many bends, ups and down, but that’s its beauty."

- Amit Ray, 'World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird'

57."Beauty is an enormous, unmerited gift given randomly, stupidly."

- Khaled Hosseini 'And the Mountains Echoed'

58."We are asleep until we fall in love!"

- Leo Tolstoy, 'War and Peace'

59."Top 15 Things Money Can’t Buy - Time. Happiness. Inner Peace. Integrity. Love. Character. Manners. Health. Respect. Morals. Trust. Patience. Class. Common sense. Dignity."

- Roy T. Bennett, 'The Light in the Heart'

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Classic Literature Quotes, then why not take a look at christmas story quotes, 'Lord of the Flies' quotes or Fahrenheit 451 quotes.