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“The truth isn’t going to bend itself to suit you” – Malorie Blackman
“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat” – Ralph Ellison
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
As we reach the conclusion of another year – and another decade – many of us take this time to contemplate the past, and think about the future.
And in these tumultuous and fast-moving times, it can be useful to turn to the great writers of history, but also those still with us, for words of wisdom and inspiration.
Whether it’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ’s observations on race in Americanah , Fyodor Dostoevsky on truth in The Brothers Karamazov or Jules Verne on solitude in The Mysterious Island – the best works of fiction contain important and perpetually relevant truths.
For 2020 and beyond, here are 28 of the most powerful literary quotes to inspire you:
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Show all 28 1 /2828 of the most powerful literary quotes 28 of the most powerful literary quotes JD Salinger – Catcher in the Rye “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes David Foster Wallace – Infinite Jest “You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realise how seldom they do.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah “Race doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Jack Kerouac – On the Road “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 that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird “Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Alexandre Dumas – Camille “Be good, be young, be true! Evil is nothing but vanity, let us have the pride of good, and above all let us never despair.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Ta-Nehisi Coates – Between the World and Me “Hate gives identity. The nigger, the fag, the bitch illuminate the border, illuminate what we ostensibly are not, illuminate the Dream of being white, of being a Man. We name the hated strangers and are thus confirmed in the tribe.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – The Little Prince “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes George Eliot – The Mill on the Floss “We can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man “Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Samuel Beckett – Worstward Ho "First the body. No. First the place. No. First both. Now either. Now the other. Sick of the either try the other. Sick of it back sick of the either. So on. Somehow on. Till sick of both. Throw up and go. Where neither. Till sick of there. Throw up and back. The body again. Where none. The place again. Where none. Try again. Fail again. Better again. Or better worse. Fail worse again. Still worse again. Till sick for good. Throw up for good. Go for good. Where neither for good. Good and all."
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Malorie Blackman – Noughts and Crosses "The truth isn't going to bend itself to suit you."
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Henry James – The Ambassadors "Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to. It doesn’t so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven’t had that, what have you had?"
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes James Baldwin – Giovanni’s Room "There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain."
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Brothers Karamazov “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Toni Morrison – Beloved “You are your best thing”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights “Terror made me cruel”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Terry Pratchett – Monstrous Regiment "The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina “It is much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Alice Walker – The Color Purple "Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to get attention we do, except walk?"
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Jules Verne – The Mysterious Island “It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Oscar Wilde – The Picture of Dorian Gray "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
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28 of the most powerful literary quotes Daphne Du Maurier – Rebecca "I suppose sooner or later in the life of everyone comes a moment of trial. We all of us have our particular devil who rides us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end."
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Philip K Dick – Valis “It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane.”
28 of the most powerful literary quotes James Joyce – Ulysses "Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves."
28 of the most powerful literary quotes Charles Dickens – Great Expectations "We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
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