A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World

Can You Guess the Famous Book from a Single Line?

Many of these romantic declarations, calls to action, and observations about the world can stand on their own. But can you figure out which well-known book they come from?

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famous book quotes
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Name the book!

A memorable quote in a book can grip readers, define a character, and even earn a major place in literary history. You’ve probably heard some of these famous lines from literature, but do you actually know which books they come from? We’ll give you three choices for each; see how many you can correctly identify (and maybe find a new must-read in the process)! More of a film buff? See if you can figure out what movies these famous lines come from.

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wuthering heights
via amazon.com

“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

A. Wuthering Heights

B. The Scarlet Letter

C. Jane Eyre

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wuthering heights
via amazon.com

Wuthering Heights

This sounds like a line from a Gothic romance, all right…but which Gothic romance? Kudos if you knew that the impassioned couple this quote references is Catherine and Heathcliff from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.

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the fellowship of the ring
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“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost.”

A. The Fellowship of the Ring

B. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

C. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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the fellowship of the ring
via amazon.com

The Fellowship of the Ring

You might have seen this in inspirational quote roundups and on Pinterest boards, but did you know which fantasy masterpiece it was from? This line, the start of a full poem, is from the first of the Lord of the Rings volumes by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

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moby dick
via amazon.com

“Call me Ishmael.”

A. Moby-Dick

B. Ulysses

C. The Old Man and the Sea

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moby dick
via amazon.com

Moby-Dick

You might have known this was the opening line from…something, but may not have known which book. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick opens with the narrator giving this introduction, which is short and sweet. For better or worse, the same cannot be said for the rest of the book.

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a christmas carol
via amazon.com

“Marley was dead: to begin with.”

A. Frankenstein

B. Murder on the Orient Express

C. A Christmas Carol

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a christmas carol
via amazon.com

A Christmas Carol

Jacob Marley’s ghost pays a visit to Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ oft-adapted holiday tale A Christmas Carol. He’s the first of four ghosts to visit Scrooge and warn him to change his selfish ways before it’s too late.

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harry potter and the chamber of secrets
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“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

A. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

B. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

C. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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harry potter and the chamber of secrets
via amazon.com

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

OK, we snuck this one in for the Harry Potter fans—the real dedicated Harry Potter fans. You may have known this was a Harry Potter quote. You may even remember that it was the wise headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, who said it. But did you know which installment it comes from? If you knew it was from the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, you’re definitely ready to tackle our Harry Potter quiz that only die-hard fans can ace.

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beloved
via amazon.com

“Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.”

A. Of Mice and Men

B. Beloved

C. 1984

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beloved
via amazon.com

Beloved

Toni Morrison passed away in 2019, inspiring a new crop of people to read (or re-read!) her Pulitzer Prize-winning epic Beloved. Read Morrison’s thought-provoking essay about confronting evil here.

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a tale of two cities
via amazon.com

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

A. War and Peace

B. The House of Mirth

C. A Tale of Two Cities

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a tale of two cities
via amazon.com

A Tale of Two Cities

The intro of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities goes on to list several more similar contradictions about these times, but, let’s be honest, the first pair is the only one non–classic literature fanatics remember.

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the lorax
via amazon.com

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

A. Oh, the Places You’ll Go

B. The Lorax

C. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

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the lorax
via amazon.com

The Lorax

This quote comes toward the end of Dr. Seuss’s possibly-more-relevant-than-ever tale The Lorax. The faceless Once-ler, whose greed brought about the destruction of a once-vibrant ecosystem, begs his young visitor to avoid making the mistakes he made and be a force for good. Yup, this is a children’s book we’re talking about!

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to kill a mockingbird
via amazon.com

“Real courage is […] when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

A. The Catcher in the Rye

B. To Kill a Mockingbird

C. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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to kill a mockingbird
via amazon.com

To Kill a Mockingbird

The central conflict of Harper Lee’s enduring classic To Kill a Mockingbird is how Atticus Finch defends a black man accused of a crime he didn’t commit in 1930s Alabama. But that’s not actually what Atticus is talking about in this quote. He’s referring to the family’s elderly neighbor who was battling a morphine addiction.

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native son
via amazon.com

“Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.”

A. A Farewell to Arms

B. Native Son

C. The Things They Carried

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native son
via amazon.com

Native Son

This three-part novel by Richard Wright, about a young black man caught in a cycle of violence and systemic racism, was ahead of its time. Native Son earned a spot on our list of books you really should have read by now.

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pride and prejudice
via amazon.com

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

A. Pride and Prejudice

B. Sense and Sensibility

C. Great Expectations

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pride and prejudice
via amazon.com

Pride and Prejudice

This line opens Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and promises readers that they’re in for a tale of high-society courtship shenanigans. For some more famous book beginnings, see if you can identify which author wrote each of these enticing opening lines.

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their eyes were watching god
via amazon.com

“Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.”

A. The Old Man and the Sea

B. Their Eyes Were Watching God

C. The Odyssey

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their eyes were watching god
via amazon.com

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Did we trick you with the sea-related books here? Nope, this quote comes from Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston’s 1920s-set coming-of-age tale that is celebrated as a staple of both African American and women’s literature.

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the kite runner
via amazon.com

“And that’s the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”

A. The Color Purple

B. The Kite Runner

C. The Great Gatsby

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the kite runner
via amazon.com

The Kite Runner

The narrator of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner ponders this during a conversation with his friend, a fellow kite runner, admitting that he “[finds] it hard to gaze directly at people like” him, unflinchingly honest people. No spoilers, but The Kite Runner is one of our must-read tearjerker books that will tug on your heartstrings long after you put them down.

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gullivers travels
via amazon.com

“Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.”

A. Gulliver’s Travels

B. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

C. The Picture of Dorian Gray

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gulliver's travels
via amazon.com

Gulliver’s Travels

Jonathan Swift brings up an interesting paradox with this line from Gulliver’s Travels, his 1726 satire of “travel diary”–style literature.

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frankenstein
via amazon.com

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

A. Frankenstein

B. War and Peace

C. Lord of the Flies

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frankenstein
via amazon.com

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has been read in countless English classes and inspired all sorts of adaptations (and contains this totally empowering, quotable line; who knew?!). Is it overrated? We don’t think so; it made our list of high school English books that deserve a post-school re-read.

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the picture of dorian gray
via amazon.com

“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”

A. Oliver Twist

B. The Picture of Dorian Gray

C. The Great Gatsby

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the picture of dorian gray
via amazon.com

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, a supernaturally-tinged social commentary in which a young, good-looking man trades his soul for a painting that will age instead of him, has a lot to say about secrets, appearances, and mistakes. Here are some of the most quotable books of all time—and our favorite quote from each.

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the great gatsby
via amazon.com

“I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

A. Tender is the Night

B. The Great Gatsby

C. The Catcher in the Rye

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the great gatsby
via amazon.com

The Great Gatsby

And…there it is! F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, one of the best-known “great American novels,” has no shortage of lavish Roaring ’20s party scenes. And it’s Gatsby himself who makes this seemingly contradictory statement. Get ready for some laughs with these hilariously bad working titles of classic books.

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winnie the pooh
via amazon.com

“Promise me you’ll remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

A. Winnie-the-Pooh

B. Charlotte’s Web

C. Little Women

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winnie the pooh
via amazon.com

Winnie-the-Pooh

Here’s another touching, ultra-quotable bit of wisdom that you may have heard time and time again without actually knowing its origin. Christoper Robin says it to Pooh in A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, the first-ever appearance of everyone’s favorite silly old bear. The book, first published in 1926, remains a classic of children’s literature to this day. Find out more of our picks for the best children’s books ever written.

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hamlet
via amazon.com

“Never doubt I love.”

A. Romeo and Juliet

B. As You Like It

C. Hamlet

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hamlet
via amazon.com

Hamlet

“To be or not to be” might be the quote that comes to mind when you think of Hamlet—and Hamlet is probably not the William Shakespeare work you’d guess a romantic line like this would appear in. But in Act 2, Scene 2, Polonius reads this line from a letter written by Hamlet to Ophelia.

Meghan Jones
Meghan Jones is a word nerd who has been writing for RD.com since 2017. You can find her byline on pieces about grammar, fun facts, the meanings of various head-scratching words and phrases, and more. Meghan graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2017; her creative nonfiction piece “Anticipation” was published in the Spring 2017 issue of Angles literary magazine.