Top Ten Tuesday: Inspirational/Thought-Provoking Book Quotes

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Here are some of my favourite inspirational and thought-provoking quotes. I honestly have no idea what else to write in the introduction to this post, so let’s move on to the quotes!

1. “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”  – Neil Gaiman, Coraline

2. “I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.”  – Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret

3.  ““What you imagine as overwhelming or terrifying while at leisure becomes something you can cope with when you must-there is no time for fear.”   – Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

4. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”  – Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968

5. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”  – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

6. “Whatever comes,” she said, “cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”  – Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

7. “Adversity is like a strong wind. It…tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.” – Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

8. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”  – Oscar Wilde, The Wit and Wisdom of Oscar Wilde

9. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.”  – John Green, Turtles All the Way Down

10. “But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.” – Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth

138 Comments

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138 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Inspirational/Thought-Provoking Book Quotes

  1. Lydia, You have a fascinating blog here with some myriad topics to read up on.

    All these quotes are great.

    But love what Stephen King always says.

    “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

    This is also a very precious book.

    Have a great week ahead!

  2. That quote by Oscar Wilde is just timeless! And the line from Coraline is certainly another favorite.

  3. I really love that Neil Gaiman quote! I also like the quote you posted from Turtles All the Way Down. I really need to read that book soon!

    My TTT post

  4. Love, love, love On Writing! That quote says it all, doesn’t it? 🙂
    I love A Little Princess and Secret Garden too. Now I want to read them again!

  5. Lau @ Lau Reads

    Great post! ☺️
    I’ve not heard of most of these!

  6. I love the Gaiman and King ones! But I also love the one from The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I’ve never read it before- but it definitely speaks to me. Great list!

  7. Great quotes! Neil Gaiman has so many quotable parts in his books.

  8. I haven’t read Memoirs of a Geisha but I love that quote!

  9. I’ve always loved that Neil Gaiman quote! So beautiful.

    That quote from Stephen King is one of my favorites, too. Ah, so painfully true. Even if you don’t want to, gotta just roll up your sleeves and get to it.

  10. Love these quotes! Very hopeful and beautiful to read.

  11. Some great ones here Lydia. Man, Coraline (the movie) STILL freaks me out.

  12. Great list! I love that quote from A Little Princess.

  13. I love that Oscar Wilde quote. So classic!

  14. Thanks for mentioning “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”. That was definitely an emotional, captivating read!
    Thanks for sharing 🙂

  15. I love all of these! That Little Princess quote is one of my favorites too. And I love that quote from Hugo Cabret!!

  16. I always loved A Little Princess. Great choice with that one, and the Memoirs of a Geisha one.

  17. Nice! I like the one from A Little Princess, and stephen King as well.

  18. Great list! I love Stephen King’s “On Writing” because it is chock full of inspirational quotes like the one here.

  19. Jo

    That Neil Gaiman quote certainly seems to have been popular this week!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/top-ten-tuesday-209/

  20. Memoirs of a Geisha was a wonderful book and I absolutely love the first quote by Neil Gailman. Great compilation of quotes!

  21. the StoryEnthusiast

    These are some really thought provoking, inspirational quotes. Thanks for sharing them!

  22. So many good ones, like the ones by King, Wilde and Gaiman.

  23. I love that Neil Gaiman quote! It’s what makes books so inspiring 🙂

  24. Great and diverse choice of quotes here! Excellent post.

  25. Neil Gaiman and Stephen King always say such profound things!

  26. So many great Quotes, i have a few i liked the one from John Green, Rick Riordan & Neil Gaiman

  27. Great quotes! I really like the one from King’s On Writing, and the Cohen one too.

  28. Love this list! A Little Princess was a favorite of mine when I was little. I was obsessed with the book and the Shirley Temple movie.

  29. I like the Hugo Cabret quote. The Neil Gaiman quote seems very popular this week.

  30. I loved that Stephen’s king book. So inspirational!

  31. That Neil Gaiman is brilliant. And the Stephen King quote would give you a kick in the ass to just get on with things!

  32. I love that Neil Gaiman quote so much. When I first looked at this week’s topic, that was going to be one of the ones I listed.

  33. The Coraline quote seems really popular today and I can see why! I also love the Stephen King quote.

  34. All of these are so good! I especially love the Leonard Cohen quote 🙂

  35. I love the quote from Hugo Cabret. Such a good one.

  36. Great list! I always liked that Oscar Wilde quote! 😊

  37. I’m seeing that Coraline quote a lot today! And John Green is popping up a lot in several different books. Love your picks!

  38. Great list. I like the Hugo and Oscar Wilde quotes.

  39. Love the quote you chose from Little Princess, and the quote from Coraline, too! They’re both so good. 🙂

  40. Ooh nice quotes! Lots of new tom me ones here!

    Thanks for visiting my TTT post!

  41. A Little Princess!! I love that one!

  42. That Cohen one is an all-time favorite, and good thing to remind myself of sometimes.

  43. Great quotes! I like the Oscar Wilde one best. The Neil Gaiman one is good too. Here is some more info on the Neil Gaiman quote. I thought it was interesting:

    https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/42909304300/my-moms-a-librarian-and-planning-to-put-literary

  44. I love everything written by John Green. That quote from Turtles All the Way Down is so powerful. My TTT favorite quotes this year

  45. I love that The Little Princess quote ♥️♥️ Great list of quotes!!

  46. These are great! I love the Oscar Wilde quote!

  47. That Oscar Wilde quote is one of my favorites. Great choices!

  48. Great quotes, Lydia! #1 reminds me of something that C.S. Lewis would say and #4 perhaps reminds me of Rumi …?? #6 Is great and you can’t beat Oscar Wilde for wit. So funny!

    • I’d never made those associations before, but I can totally see why you’d think that.

      Yes, Oscar Wilde was a very witty many.

      And thanks. 🙂

  49. I like #9 on your picks. Have a great week!

  50. The Gaiman quote is great! I love his work so much

  51. I really love that quote from Neil Gaiman. It sounds just so iconic, plus I really love fairytales so I love the message behind it too.
    Great picks for this week. 🙂

  52. Love these quotes, my favorite is probably Coraline. I love that book so much. The movie is amazing too.

  53. Oh my number 1 and 7 really are wonderful!

  54. These are wonderful. Neil Gaimain and Leonard Cohen’s are amongst my favorites ever, and I really liked the Solnit one, which I hadn’t heard before but definitely relate to.

  55. Love the quote from Memoirs of a Geisha. I recently read that book after coming back from Japan. The Hugo quote is pretty awesome too.

  56. These are such great quotes!! I love the one from Turtles All the Way Down. I still need to read that book! ☺️

  57. Oh I love all of these! That one from Coraline is a particular favorite of mine. 🙂

  58. Such great choices! I love the Hugo Cabret quote and the one from Battle of the Labyrinth. 🙂

  59. Love these, and I had forgotten that wonderful one from A Little Princess, but that idea had such an impact on me as a kid!

  60. I loved reading Turtles All The Way Down, and I love that quote!

  61. Fantastic list of quotes. I’ve always loved that one from Neil Gaiman.

  62. I love these quotes!

  63. Love the one from The Little Princess! And the one from Leonard Cohen, so beautiful.

  64. I’ve always loved that Leonard Cohen quote!

  65. Oh these are all so nice! I especially like the John Green one.

  66. WOW I really like the second quote, thank you for sharing!

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