50 Quotes Everyone Expects You to Know
If you want to seem reasonably intelligent at parties — or you want to triumph at your next trivia night — knowing these 50 quotes will give you an advantage. Learn not only the quotes, but also their authors!
Literary Quotes
1. “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
2. “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” —Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
3. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” —Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
4. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
5. “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
6. “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
7. “We dream in our waking moments, and walk in our sleep.” —Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
8. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
9. “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
10.“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.” —Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
Shakespeare Quotes
11. “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them.” —William Shakespeare, Hamlet
12. “If music be the food of love, play on.” —William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
13. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.” —William Shakespeare, As You Like It
14. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” —William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18
15. “This above all: To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” —William Shakespeare, Hamlet
16. “The course of true love never did run smooth.” —William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
17. “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
18. “Et tu, Brute?” —William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
19. “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” —William Shakespeare, Richard III
20. “Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.” —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Young Adult Literature Quotes
21. “That’s the thing about pain. It demands to be felt.” —John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
22. “Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the other guy was human too.” —S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
23. “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, the most inexhaustible form of magic we have, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
24. “Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” —Veronica Roth, Divergent
25. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” —Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
Children’s Literature Quotes
26. “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” —J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
27. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” —Dr. Seuss, The Lorax
28. “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” —Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
29. “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” —Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
30. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
Classic Movie Quotes
31. “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” —The Godfather
32. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” —Dirty Dancing
33. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” —All About Eve
34. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” —The Princess Bride
35. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” —Casablanca
Sci-Fi Quotes
36. “The Answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Universe and Everything is…42!” —Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
37. “I’ll be back.” —The Terminator
38. “Soylent Green is people!” —Soylent Green
39. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” —George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
40. “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” —2001: A Space Odyssey
Historic Quotes
41. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
42. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” —Neil Armstrong
43. “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” —Mao Zedong
44. “No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent.” —Susan B. Anthony
45. “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” —John F. Kennedy
Inspirational Quotes
46. “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” —Mother Teresa
47. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” —Helen Keller
48. “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.” —James Cameron
49. “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” —Tony Robbins
50. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” —Nelson Mandela
*
Enjoy daily quotes and inspiration wherever you are! Download our Brilliant Quotes app for Apple or Android. Browse by author or category, read our quote of the day, vote for your favorite quotes, and share inspirational quotes on social media.
