Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favorite Book Quotes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today’s topic: Favorite Book Quotes

You know those moments when you’re reading a book and a line just pops out at you? If you’re reading an e-book, you electronically highlight it, or if it’s a print copy you grab a highlighter pen and draw the neon ink over it so that it will always stand out to you. Sometimes you grab your phone and Tweet the quote then and there, other times, you copy the infamous words down in a notebook because you never ever want to forget those special words. I love those moments. They make reading whatever book it is even more special. And that’s what today’s post is all about. There are probably a thousand quotes that I’ve simply not thought of, but here are some of my absolute favorite book quotes.

10: “An unhappy alternative is before, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins. I will never see you again if you do.”

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Probably my favorite quotes from Pride and Prejudice (yep, it beats out the opening line and Darcy’s “in vain I have struggled” quote.) It makes me laugh and it makes me cheer that Mr. Bennet would say this.

9: “Every man’s island, Jean Louise, every man’s watchman is his conscience.”

Harper Lee, Go Set A Watchman

Such a powerful quote from one of the greatest writers of all time.

8: “If you just want a thing had enough and keep on trying, you get it in the end.”

-Jean Webster, Daddy-Longs-Legs

7: “But, dear me, let us be elegant or die.”

-Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

This quote always cracks me up!

6: “I am no bird; no net ensnares me.”

-Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

This being one of my favorite novels ever, there are a few quotes from the book that I love. This one always stands out in my mind when I think of Jane Eyre.

5: “Oh, I tell you, Daddy, when we women get our tights, you men will have to look alive in order to keep yours.”

-Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs

You tell ‘em, Judy!

4: “There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners until needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”

-Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

So heartbreaking and beautiful.

3: “God’s in His heaven; all’s right with the world”

L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I’m almost certain this quote was originally by another author, but I always associate it with Anne of Green Gables.

2: “I’m going to enjoy every second, and I’m going to KNOW I’m enjoying it while I’m enjoying it. Most people don’t live; they just race. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they get so breathless and panting that they lose all sight of the beautiful, tranquil country they are passing through; and then the first thing they know, they are old and worn out, and it doesn’t make any difference whether they’ve reached the goal or not. I’ve decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses even if I never become a Great Author.”

-Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs

Daddy-Long-Legs is one of my favorite books ever and this quote displays why. It’s just so good!

1: “Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint; too absolute a stagnation, precisely as man would suffer; and it is narrow minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”

-Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

This is a rather long quote, but I just love it.

What are some of your favorite book quotes, readers and friends? I’d love to hear about them!

-Miranda Atchley