Do You Ever Keep Track of Book Quotes You Love?

by

I love sentences that make you pause for all the right reasons.

When I’m reading a particularly savory sentence, I’ve been known to stop there in the story and just read it again, letting the meaning sink in. Now, slowing down your reading is generally the OPPOSITE of what authors are trying to do. We genuinely want readers to devour our books. Often, people only slow down when they find an error or something else pulls them out of the story.

However, I try in each of my books to make an effort in each emotional section of prose, to make one quotable statement. Have you ever noticed authors doing this on social media or in their newsletters? They will take a pretty image and put a quote from the book on it? I’ve done that a few times. The goal is to make you curious about what is inside. How could that quote fit into the larger picture of the story?

I gathered a few famous quotes from famous authors as examples. Do you have any favorite quotes from books?

 

For those who have difficulty reading images, it says: “Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you.” -Louis L’Amour

I find this to be so true. The better the book is, the more it sticks with me. I spent literal years trying to recall the name of a book I read in high school. I couldn’t recall the name of it, but could recall parts of it. Especially the parts that touched me. The book actually has the easiest name in the world, but I couldn’t recall it, The Good Earth.

Tolkien has some of the best quotes. Well, his bestie C.S. Lewis had some too, but I think they basically acted as critique partners as well as friends, so that makes sense. This quote reads: “Not all those who wander are lost.” J. R. R. Tolkien

Last, but not least, from the lovely Louisa May Alcott, “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” This from the amazing Little Women.

So, if you are a collector of quotes or just recall the titles of books that had some delicious prose, please share them with us!

Author | Website |  + posts

Where western meets happily ever after.

Kari writes swoony heroes and places that become characters with detail and heart.

Her favorite place to write about is the place her heart lives, (even if she doesn't) South Dakota.

Kari loves reading, listening to contemporary Christian music, singing when no one's listening, and curling up near the wood stove when winter hits. She makes her home in central Minnesota, land of frigid toes and mosquitoes the size of compact cars, with her husband of over twenty years. They have two daughters, two sons, one cat, and one hungry wood stove.

34 thoughts on “Do You Ever Keep Track of Book Quotes You Love?”

  2. Great quotes, Kari! I love seeing what quotes speak to my readers. Many times, I’ve completely forgotten what I’ve written, so I get to enjoy it afresh through their eyes, which makes it extra special.

    • I’ve done that too! Sometimes quotes that didn’t really speak to me when I was writing them, speak to a reader. I love that the book is different for them than it was for me.

    • I am glad to know others have read a book, thoroughly enjoyed it, but cannot remember the title, nor sometimes the true resonance of the book. It takes a refresher by reading a few pages or the epilogue.

      • You are definitely not the only one. Lots of people struggle with this. I also struggle some with the reverse. I’ll have a book in my Goodreads from years ago that says I read it, but I can’t remember a thing about it.

  3. Here are two of my favorite bookish quotes:
    “You can never get a cup of tea large enough of a book long enough to suit me.” – C.S. Lewis
    and
    “No man can be called friendless when he has God and the companionship of good books.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

  4. Hi Kari!
    Such great quotes! Thanks for sharing them with us today. And I agree with Karen. It’s fun to ask readers for their favorite quotes.
    Here’s one of my favorite bookish quotes:
    “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
    ?Stephen King

  5.   “The Legend was riding straight through Hell, taking his licks and coming out the other side with the problems fixed.”

    Linda Broday

  7. I do not recall any quotes. However, I also read a book in high school which I can remember parts of to this day.( I am 79 and graduated in 1962) It was about New York when it was called New something else. There was a young girl with very long hair and she had just washed it and was sitting out on her stoop brushing it to dry it. That is yet very vivid in my memory bank.

    • well, I can tell you that New York was once call New Amsterdam, but I can’t help you with that particular book, as I don’t think I’ve read it. Maybe someone else here has. Wouldn’t that be lovely to solve that mystery?

  8. I used to write quotes on my school notebooks as a teen in order to get through the rough school days, but as an adult, having young children to care for and finding time to read in snatched, broken up minutes throughout the day, I stopped doing this. I remember lots of quotes from Charles Dickens, J. R. R. Tolkien, Madeline L’Engle, C. S. Lewis, and probably others! 

  9. I actually have a notebook/journal dedicated to quotes that speak to me. 😀
    One quote that I love is from Amanda Dykes in her book Whose Waves These Are.
    “Impossible is where the miracles begin.”

  11. The Panchatantra is a great source of quotes abd many English ones derive from it. “A friend in need is a friend indeed…” being one of them

  12. Kari, I love quotes and often write them down so I’ll remember them. Where the Crawdads Sing had so many that caused me to pause and reread. I loved that book. I’m fortunate to have a signed copy. 🙂

Comments are closed.