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About This Quiz
Mark Twain called a classic "a book everyone wants to have read, but nobody wants to read." And what better way to fake it than to be able to quote a classic book's most famous line? Consider:Â
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times;" "It was a pleasure to burn," and "Reader, I married him." Undoubtedly, these famous quotes ring a bell. But can you actually match them to their books? (We can't tell you the answers here; you'll run across all three in the quiz).Â
With some books, pretty much everyone agrees on what its most famous line is - this is true of the opening line of "Pride and Prejudice," which you'll find on everything from dishtowels to bookmarks. But with others, there isn't one clear winner. For this quiz, we've picked what we feel is the best-known, most-quoted line. Often it's a first line or the last line, but not always. Here's a helpful hint: though you might see a book used more than once in the answer options (there are choices for each quote), no book will be the right answer more than once. In other words, each question is about a unique book.
You might disagree with one or two of our picks; if so, tell us your choice in the comments. And good luck!
"Stay gold, Ponyboy."
Catch-22
Franny and Zooey
The Outsiders
What else could this be but the late-60s teen classic? Johnny Cade says this to his friend, the narrator Ponyboy Curtis, on his deathbed.
The Return of the Native
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
Madame Bovary
Sense and Sensibility
Neuromancher
A Tale of Two Cities
If you're wondering why the full line isn't quoted, trust us, it's for the best. The full quote reads like a paragraph; it's an astounding 119 words long.
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"So we beat on, boats against the tide... borne ceaselessly back into the past."
Beloved
The Great Gatsby
It's amazing to consider that this melancholy line, the last of "Gatsby," was written when Scott Fitzgerald was only 26. His insight into the regrets of midlife was remarkable for such a young man.
The Last Six Million Seconds
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
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"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a gentleman in possession of a fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Clarissa
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Pride and Prejudice
This one is famous, of course. Sidebar: does the placement of the commas look wrong to you, like it does to us? Well, that's they way Jane wrote 'em, so we won't quibble.
Persuasion
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"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the thing you were after."
Anne of Green Gables
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit" for his children. Generations of children and adults have since taken it to their hearts.
The Paris Wife
Robinson Crusoe
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"It was a pleasure to burn."
Catch-22
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper burns. Generations of readers have Ray Bradbury's classic novel about book burning to thank for knowing that.
A Farewell to Arms
The Sun Also Rises
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"Call me Ishmael."
Catcher in the Rye
Emma
Moby Dick
Yup, it's another opening line. Enjoy its brevity - from here on out, there's going to be a LOT of complicated, long sentences and paragraphs about the world of whaling.
The Scarlet Letter
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"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
1984
Okay, these are three lines. But they all work together to make the reader understand why brazenly dishonest propaganda is called "Orwellian."
A Confederacy of Dunces
October Road
To Kill a Mockingbird
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"We've got to have rules and to obey them. After all, we're not savages."
The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Hunger Games
Lord of the Flies
This book about preteens shipwrecked on an island is a perennial student favorite, largely because of its relatively short length and involving plot. Spoiler alert: The "we're not savages" thing proves to be wrong. AND HOW.
War and Peace
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"Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt."
Little Women
Looking for Alaska
A Farewell to Arms
Slaughterhouse-Five
This book by Kurt Vonnegut has an odd subtitle: "or, the Children's Crusade, a Duty-Dance with Death." The final clause about "a Duty-Dance" rarely makes it into references to this anti-war novel.
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"I will live in the past, the present and the future!"
A Christmas Carol
This is Ebenezer Scrooge's conclusion, after he learns some important life lessons in "A Christmas Carol." It was written, of course, by Charles Dickens.
Fat City
A Pair of Blue Eyes
The Catcher in the Rye
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"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
This Side of Paradise
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
This book is a perennial classic by poet and memoirist Angelou. Fun fact: Angelou wrote and read a poem for Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration.
Moby-Dick
Eat, Pray, Love
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"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Anna Karenina
This is the first sentence of the famous Tolstoy novel. "Anna Karenina" is his second-most-famous work, overshadowed slightly by "War and Peace."
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Love of the Last Tycoon
Don Quixote
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"This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do."
The Beautiful and Damned
Northanger Abbey
On the Road
Deeply insightful or painfully self-indulgent? This debate about "On the Road," by Beat generation writer Jack Kerouac, is still ongoing.
Franny and Zooey
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"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be."
Great Expectations
So what you're saying is that the deck is stacked against you, eh, Pip? Never let it be said that Charles Dickens was afraid of a long pileup of descriptive phrases!
Franny and Zooey
Persuasion
The Return of the Native
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"One man's life or death were a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge I sought."
Pride and Prejudice
Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus
Oh, Victor. It's going to cost more than one life by the time your mess is cleaned up.
All Creatures Great and Small
The Road to Wigan Pier
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"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand."
The Handmaid's Tale
Infinite Jest
To Kill a Mockingbird
Honestly, our favorite quote from this book is the one that gives it its title. "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." What did Harper Lee have against blue jays?!
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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"Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined."
Beloved
"Beloved" is the harrowing story of a mother who kills her daughter rather than have her grow up a slave in the pre-emancipation South. The novel won Toni Morrison the Pulitzer Prize.
The Fault in Our Stars
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The House on Mango Street
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"Why didn't you tell me there was danger in men-folk? Why didn't you warn me?"
The Bluest Eye
The Dunwich Horror
Sense and Sensibility
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Tess is speaking here to her mother, who did not warn her of the dangers of her sophisticated "cousin" Alec. Tess returns home from Alec's estate pregnant outside wedlock.
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"Dead men are heavier than broken hearts."
The Big Sleep
"The Big Sleep" is Raymond Chandler's most famous book, introducing his hero, Philip Marlowe. Chandler also wrote "Farewell, My Lovely" and "The Lady in the Lake."
Dracula
At the Mountains of Madness
A Series of Unfortunate Events
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"I'd known plenty of dead people, of course, but I'd never dated one."
Catcher in the Rye
The Fault in Our Stars
"The Fault in Our Stars" is all about love in the face of death. YouTube star John Green single-handedly changed the course of YA fiction by releasing this realistic, ironic "problem novel" into a market full of vampire and dystopian fantasies.
Anne of Green Gables
Rebecca
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"Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley."
Jane Eyre
Anno Dracula
Rebecca
"Rebecca" is probably Daphne duMaurier's best-known novel. The simple, classic line above is its opening line.
The Remains of the Day
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"Reader, I married him."
Jane Eyre
This classic, succinct line has been paraphrased in many ways, ("Reader, I divorced him!"). In its original form, it is the title of a book of Jane-Eyre-inspired short stories.
The Mayor of Casterbridge
Northanger Abbey
Pamela
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"High school isn't a very important place. When you're going you think it's a big deal, but when it's over, nobody really thinks it's great unless they're beered up."
Carrie
This comes from Stephen King's classic chiller about high-school revenge. The quote above reflects King's casual, conversational style.
Sister Carrie
Eat, Pray, Love
On the Road
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"But his dreams were as gigantic as his surroundings were small."
All Quiet on the Western Front
Jude the Obscure
This line sums up Thomas Hardy's doomed hero in a few words. Jude wants to be an architect, but England's class system - and misfortune in love - stand in his way.
Seabiscuit
This Side of Paradise
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"What is essential is invisible to the eye."
All Creatures Great and Small
The Little Prince
This is probably the most famous line in Antoine St. Exupery's beloved book. If you haven't seen it lately, check a coffee mug, poster or bumper sticker near you.
The Alchemist
Shane
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"For the dead travel fast."
Dracula
In Bram Stoker's book, this line appears first in German, then is translated into English. It's one of the lines that stick in readers' memories, along with, "The children of the night... what music they make!"
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
To the Lighthouse
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"I am not afraid of storms, because I am learning how to sail my ship."
The Road to Wigan Pier
The Hunger Games
Little Women
This line is from Louisa May Alcott's famous book. She followed it up with "Little Men" and "Jo's Boys."
The Return of the Native
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"Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved."
Catch-22
Dracula
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Twilight
This line comes late in Stephenie Meyer's first novel. In the movie, it was moved up to a prologue segment about heroine Bella's near-death.
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"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."
Catch-22
"Catch-22" is a novel about World War II pilots. The catch in "Catch-22" was that anyone who went to the Army's psychologists asking to be let out of combat missions, based on an irrational fear of them, couldn't be taken off combat duty. Being afraid to fly was rational, therefore proof of being sane.
The Corrections
Less Than Zero
White Noise
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"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
The Scarlet Letter
The Hunger Games
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
Wuthering Heights
If you enjoy lines like the above, trust us, "Wuthering Heights" is for you. On an emotional scale of 1 to 10, the characters of "Wuthering Heights" are always operating at an 11.
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"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Guards
The Shining
The Old Man and the Sea
Many readers point to this as the theme of Ernest Hemingway's classic. Written later in his life, this book was largely responsible for Hemingway winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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"I am always saying 'Glad to've met you' to someone I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, though, you've got to say that stuff."
Catcher in the Rye
Holden Caulfield narrates "Catcher" as though he's speaking directly to the reader. His thoughts on life are ironic, often funny, sometimes infuriating, and occasionally heartbreaking.
Looking for Alaska
The Red Badge of Courage
A Confederacy of Dunces
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"When you want something, the whole universe conspires to help you get it."
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho's book about following one's "personal legend" has become a deeply polarizing book. Some people love it and find it inspirational; others find it misleading and likely to promote self-centeredness.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
All Creatures Great and Small
Sense and Sensibility
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"A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct."
Dune
This quote is from the "Manual of Muad'Dib" in Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic. Also popular are the later lines about "fear... the mind-killer."
The Handmaid's Tale
The Corrections
Little Dorrit
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