5 Unforgettable Quotes from Great Books
Some books don’t leave much of a mark, but some we remember and love no matter how much time passes, even if we never read them again. Many books have quotes that are unforgettable. They form a part of us, like little links in the chain of memory, to remind us who we are.
These special, unforgettable books are a part of our lives, our way of thinking and acting, and even though we’ve read them many times, sometimes we open up their pages to reread those moving quotes.
Quotes from books: written memory
Some quotes talk about loneliness, death, love, passion, childhood. And every book is a world within itself that we can grow and mature with. Each book has its moment to shine, and it’s the book who chooses it.
Some quotes don’t need to be reread because they’re written like fire in the heart and soul. Reading and learning require bravery, hope, and an open mind. Are you ready?
Loneliness
“Prime numbers are only divisible by 1 and themselves. They occupy a place in an infinite series of natural numbers and are, like all the rest, sandwiched between two other numbers, although they are more separated from each other. They’re suspicious, solitary numbers.”
-Paolo Giordano-
In 2008, Paolo Giordano published a beautiful book entitled The Solitude of Prime Numbers. Based on the metaphor of prime numbers, he tells us of the relationship between two friends, Mattia and Alice, who have a lot in common, but who seem to be destined not to find each other in the right moment.
Some of us might experience this sensation at different points in our lives. Maybe you found the perfect partner, but that person wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. Or maybe you found your dream job, but they gave the position to someone else.
Sometimes you have to let go of a person or a situation, so that something new and surprising can come into your life. Letting go is hard, but it doesn’t mean you have to lose. On the contrary, the future will teach you that it means winning.
Not seeking, but finding
“We walked without looking for each other, but knowing that we walked to find each other.”
-Julio Cortázar-
In 1963, Hopscotch was published, a book written by Julio Cortázar that marked a milestone in literature, a small earthquake in the cultural panorama of the age. Hopscotch is a transgression in terms of the classic structure of a novel, as it breaks from all conventions that exist in narratives.
Hopscotch is a book full of unforgettable quotes for entire generations of readers. The quote that we have chosen reminds us that sometimes we find things when we’re not even looking for them. We often go after things without realizing that, if we stopped, those things would come to us.
Love and heartbreak
“There is nothing in the world, not a man or a devil or anything, that’s as suspicious to me as love, because it penetrates the soul more than any other thing. There is nothing that occupies and binds the heart as much as love. That’s why, when it has to weapons to govern, the soul sinks, because of love, into the deepest of ruins.”
-Umberto Eco-
The book The Name of the Rose is perhaps one of the most beautiful and remembered works of literature and film. It tells the story of mysterious murders, and it also tells of the love that the young Franciscan monk Atso feels for a mysterious young woman.
Among the most well-known literary quotes, this one talks of love as a universal feeling. We fall in love unexpectedly. Love governs us, and we do things for love that we would have never imagined. But love has a dark side: heartbreak. It tears you apart when the person you love doesn’t love you back.
Memory
“Many years later, in front of the firing squad, colonel Aureliano Buendía had to remember that distant afternoon in which his father led him to discover ice.”
-Gabriel García Márquez-
If there’s one book that’s celebrated and unforgettable, it’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. He begins with this beautiful quote that tells us the end and the beginning of the story at the same time, and that causes us to reflect deeply.
In certain moments in our lives, it’s important to stop and think. To reflect on what we remember and what we forget, to go over all the lessons that experience and time have taught us, and to move forward without making the same mistakes.
Childhood
“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry-
The Little Prince is certainly a book that makes very deep reflections in simple sentences. It’s a song to childhood, love, creativity, and passion for little things. A book that continues to be relevant today, despite the years.
Among all the quotes from celebrated books, the ones from The Little Prince have their own unique light. The quote we’ve chosen is one that encourages us to reflect on the creativity that we had as children, and that we seem to lose over time.
Children aren’t afraid of the future or of other people’s opinions, which allows their imagination to fly freely. Recovering your inner child means creating, feeling, and being unafraid again. It’s recovering your will to fly. Do you dare to do it?