Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be a fun way to share a condensed version of potential rambles and thoughts that I have.
This Week’s Theme:
Top Ten Inspiring Book Quotes
Initial Thoughts:
This is a dubious topic as I’m sure there are quotes I enjoy not listed in Goodreads and I’m way too lazy to flip through tabbed pages looking for quotes that best fits this prompt. Soooo…I’ll probably just pick and choose from the Goodreads repository. Many of these might not be inspiring (or my favourite) but they hit the feels—so that’s enough, right?
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.”
– Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
“It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”
– S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
“What’s your name,’ Coraline asked the cat. ‘Look, I’m Coraline. Okay?’
‘Cats don’t have names,’ it said.
‘No?’ said Coraline.
‘No,’ said the cat. ‘Now you people have names. That’s because you don’t know who you are. We know who we are, so we don’t need names.”
– Neil Gaiman, Coraline
“The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.”
– George Orwell, 1984
“If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending…
But if it’s a story, even in my head, I must be telling it to someone. You don’t tell a story only to yourself. There’s always someone else. Even when there is no one.”
– Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
“I moved forward in the trace of their footsteps as in a waking dream where the scent of a newly blown poppy is no longer a perfume but a blossoming: where the deep red of a maple leaf in autumn is no longer a colour but a grace; where a country is no longer a place but a lullaby.”
– Kim Thuy, Ru
“Don’t just act because you can; act because it’s the right thing to do. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be all right.”
– Brandon Sanderson, Steelheart
“We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.”
– Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
“Don’t think you haven’t lived long enough to have a story to tell.”
– Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls
“Real life is only ever just real life. Messy. What it means depends on how you look at it. The only thing you’ve got to do is find a way to live there.”
– Patrick Ness, More Than This
And to end in cynical fashion:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
– George Orwell, 1984
Or just more Nessochism goodness:
“You do not write your life with words…You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”
– Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls
“Whatever the world looks like now. That’s not always how it’s going to look. There’s more. There’s always more.”
– Patrick Ness, More Than This
(praise.)
Afterthoughts:
As you can tell, many of them are life-oriented. That’s just how I roll.
Any of you writers think that it’s pretty difficult to create inspiring quotes for your stories without making it seem too generic or pretentious (given the reigns of what leads to it). I mean, it’s fun and all, but I really do appreciate how people can just throw-down words of feel-inducing gold.
If you’re a writer, I’m curious as to hear some of your written inspiration!
Cheers,
Joey
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
Nessochism! I love that. His books are so well written though. So quotable!
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Agreed! The hope is that those who read his words become a Nessochist as well haha (I promise it isn’t a cult).
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I tried to keep my quotes down to one per author/book otherwise Patrick Ness would have made the entire list. I haven’t read the two books you reference though. Someday. Thank you for sharing!
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I tried so very hard to keep it to one quote per author/book but man was it difficult narrowing those choices. I thought about just going pure Ness quotes but figured giving people some sneak-peek of his writing haha. I hope you get around to reading AMC or MTT! I really should get going with finding myself a copy of Hennington.
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Awesome list of quotes, especially the one from The Outsiders. Your list also reminds me that I have to read some Patrick Ness. I keep hearing only amazing things about his book and now amazing quotes yet I still haven’t read any of his books. Great list!
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No harm in having a go at it and seeing what it’s like and if you enjoy it! The quotes selected were from his standalones; definitely more accessible than his trilogy (which was equally stellar #praisehypepraise)
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I think what works best for profundity is simplicity and the natural feeling of it.
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Right on. I think what also adds to the difficulty is that so many inspirational quotes are fundamentally in the same line of thought but just worded differently haha.
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Nesssssssssssssssssssssssss! That is all.
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What I wouldn’t give to get a copy of The Rest of Us Just Live Here…
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IKR!?
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Now I need to read More Than This 🙂 The Ray Bradbury quote is incredible, too!
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I hope you enjoy MTT! I do wish some of these inspiration-spewing authors could be my life coach haha.
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“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.
Ahaha, I’ve never heard this one before. What a keeper!
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Brilliant stuff. In the same vein as Liv throwing rocks at Marcy…LOLOLOL.
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I hate to admit it, but I have yet to read anything by Patrick Ness. Looks like I need to after reading those quotes!
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Haha, no pressure to read anything by Ness! I’m sure certain books will find you at the right time.
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Awesome list – will be adding some of these books to my tbr pile. I loved the Outsiders quote – I haven’t read that in ages and always liked that line.
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The resilience of a book quote to still hold meaning despite being read ages ago is pretty cool. I do hope you enjoy whichever book you’ve added to your list!
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What amazing quotes, and I especially love the Ray Bradbury quote. 🙂
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Agreed. Bradbury was among the first authors I’ve read and there’s definitely staying power in his words!
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The boot stamping on the face one = pure Orwell genius! amazing!
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lololol It is so incredibly morbid but so undeniably true.
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Nothing wrong with resorting to Goodreads. I was too lazy to look for quotes for this week’s meme. I love your list of quotes too, but probably the Coraline quote resonated with me the most. Is that in the movie?
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I think it was from the book. I’m not sure the film had that quote (or maybe it did?) I have no idea. Goodreads is mysterious.
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WOW such great quotes! and i have to say this, my hands are tingling to get a copy of any of Patrick Ness’ books. 😀
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Tingling is a good sign but definitely no pressure in actually going through with it haha. I’m sure any of his works will find you when it’s the right time!
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Okay, these are great! I love the Ness bits, and the piece from Coraline is one of my favorite passages from the book! Love the Bradbury too. Great selections!
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Funny how older-me probably appreciates these quotes from Bradbury or Gaiman now rather than when I first read them haha.
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Love those quotes from More Than This by Patrick Ness! I have never got round to reading it, but I am hoping to very soon after reading this!
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I hope you enjoy it then if it’s already up there on your TBR pile! I’ve seen many comments saying that it is slow at the beginning so take that with a grain of salt.
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Oh ok, thanks for the pre warning 🙂
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Most of the quotes you have are from books my book club discussed (which I didn’t read, haha). Oh, I think I’m going to read More Than This. 🙂
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I can definitely relate to not keeping up with what book clubs read haha. I do hope you enjoy MTT whenever you get the chance!
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I love the quote from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry!! Makes me want to pick up the book immediately!
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Fikry is a special book that took me by surprise! (I had zero expectations but came out with so many feels.)
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I love all these quotes! Especially the Coraline and The Storied Life ones. And you keep convincing me more and more to try out some of Patrick Ness’s works. Soon, I will join the club.
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Some great quotes here, particularly the Orwells–they speak to the cynicist in me.
As for writing inspiring quotes… i think if you’re actively trying to put together the right words to sound so meaningful, you’re doing it wrong. Just hold the feeling of what you want to express and let the words find you. IDK, that’s how i tend to write, anyway.
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