My Favorite Literary Quotes

“A man is born into this world with only a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul; the rest is ugliness and evil, a shell. The spark must be guarded like a treasure, it must be nurtured, it must be fanned into flame. It must learn to seek out other sparks, it must dominate the shell. Anything can be a shell, Reuven. Anything. Indifference, laziness, brutality, and genius. Yes, even a great mind can be a shell and choke the spark.”
― Chaim Potok, The Chosen

"'We're growing up,' Betsy said aloud.  She wasn't even sure she liked it.  But it happened, and then it was irrevocable.  There was nothing you could do about it except to try to see that you grew up into the kind of human being you wanted to be. 'I'd like to be a fine one,' Betsy thought quickly and urgently."
- Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy Was a Junior

“Sorrow and joy, he thought, so inextricably entwined that he could scarcely tell where one left off and the other began.”
― Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

“Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it, except sitting in a corner by myself with a book.”
― Jan Karon, In the Company of Others

“People always think that happiness is a faraway thing," thought Francie, "something complicated and hard to get. Yet, what little things can make it up; a place of shelter when it rains - a cup of strong hot coffee when you're blue; for a man, a cigarette for contentment; a book to read when you're alone - just to be with someone you love. Those things make happiness.”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

“I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Atticus, he was real nice."
"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“Generosity without delicacy, like wit without judgement, generally gives as much pain as pleasure.”
― Fanny Burney, Evelina

“It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. Between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside-- but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond-- only a glimpse-- and heard a note of unearthly music.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

“To love is easy and therefore common - but to understand - how rare it is!”
― L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh