Top Ten Tuesday: Memorable Things Characters Have Said

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Here is my list. It will be interesting to see how everyone’s interpretations of what makes a quote memorable line up!

 

Photo of a stone angel surrounded by stormy grey clouds“I am not an angel,” I asserted; “and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself.”
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

 

“Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We’re in one, of course, but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: “Let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring!” And they will say: “Yes, that’s one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn’t he, dad?” “Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that’s saying a lot.”
‘It’s saying a lot too much,’ said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. ‘Why, Sam,’ he said, ‘to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you’ve left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. “I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn’t they put in more of his talk, dad? That’s what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn’t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?”‘
‘Now, Mr. Frodo,’ said Sam, ‘you shouldn’t make fun. I was serious.’
‘So was I,’ said Frodo, ‘and so I am.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

 

 

“You know what would help this boy?” Demeter mused. “Farming.”
Persephone rolled her eyes. “Mother-”
“Six months behind a plow. Excellent character building.”
Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian

 

 

“I can’t imagine how anyone can say: “I’m weak,” and then remain so. After all, if you know it, why not fight against it, why not try to train your character? The answer was: “Because it’s so much easier not to!”
Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

 

 

 

The word doubt printed on a grey background. The “ubt” has been crossed out, leaving only the word “do.” You are the biggest fool of a boy I’ve ever known,” Mott said. Then his tone softened. “But you will serve Carthya well.”
“I wish I felt ready to do this,” I said. “The closer we come to the moment, the more I see every defect in my character that caused my parents to send me away in the first place.”
“From all I’m told, the prince they sent away was selfish, mischievous, and destructive. The king who returns is courageous, noble, and strong.”
“And a fool,” I added
Mott chuckled. “You are that too.”
Jennifer A. Nielsen, The False Prince

 

 

“Don’t the great tales never end?”
“No, they never end as tales,” said Frodo. “But the people in them come, and go when their part’s ended. Our part will end later – or sooner.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

 

“What are you reading?” Owen asks.
“Charlotte’s Web,” Liz says. “It’s really sad. One of the main characters just died.”
“You ought to read the book from end to beginning,” Owen jokes. “That way, no one dies, and it’s always a happy ending.”
Gabrielle Zevin, Elsewhere

 

 

 

 

“Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot”. ~Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1958, spoken by the character Holly Golightly”
Truman Capote

 

 

“Allow me to tell you, Mr Taylor,” said I, but quietly as the occasion demanded, “that one gentleman does not rejoice at the misfortune of another in public”.”
William Golding

 

 

Person putting puzzle pieces together. “To think that this is my twentieth birthday, and that I’ve left my teens behind me forever,” said Anne, who was curled up on the hearth-rug with Rusty in her lap, to Aunt Jamesina who was reading in her pet chair. They were alone in the living room. Stella and Priscilla had gone to a committee meeting and Phil was upstairs adorning herself for a party.

“I suppose you feel kind of sorry,” said Aunt Jamesina. “The teens are such a nice part of life. I’m glad I’ve never gone out of them myself.”

Anne laughed.

“You never will, Aunty. You’ll be eighteen when you should be a hundred. Yes, I’m sorry, and a little dissatisfied as well. Miss Stacy told me long ago that by the time I was twenty my character would be formed, for good or evil. I don’t feel that it’s what it should be. It’s full of flaws.”

“So’s everybody’s,” said Aunt Jamesina cheerfully. “Mine’s cracked in a hundred places. Your Miss Stacy likely meant that when you are twenty your character would have got its permanent bent in one direction or ‘tother, and would go on developing in that line. Don’t worry over it, Anne.”
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

52 Comments

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52 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Memorable Things Characters Have Said

  1. Love that quote from elsewhere

  2. Your quotes brought back so many fond reading memories! These are great.

  3. So many great quotes! My favorite is the first Frodo and Sam quote, but that’s because I’m a massive Samwise-fangirl 🙂

  4. I was leaning towards not reading the LOTR books cos I wasn’t a big fan of The Hobbit (sorry!) but those two quotes you shared have convinced me to at least give these books a try. Wonderful quotes! 😍

    • Thank you.

      I should warn you that the pacing of the LoTR books can be very slow at times. Not sure if that was what you disliked about The Hobbit or not, but just thought you should have a heads up.

  5. “Farming” LOL I love that!

  6. These are great quotes! I love Tolkien – he often said some very important things without you realizing it. One of my favorites of his comes from the last page or so of The Hobbit. I can’t remember it exactly, but it is something like, “My dear Bilbo, you are not the hobbit that you once were.”

    Here is our http://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/top-ten-tuesday-memorable-things-characters-have-said/. Thank you!

  7. I love the quotes you found! The LOTR quotes have reminded me why I enjoyed those books so much. They really have some great gems in them.

    My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2021/11/09/top-ten-tuesday-memorable-things-characters-have-said/

  8. Always love me a good Jane Eyre quote, and some other excellent choices here too.

  9. LOTR! That is what im reading right now. Beautiful quote

  10. For some reason I really love that one from The Last Olympian.

  11. I love the thought in your first quote……who will tell our stories? It reminds me of Eliza’s powerful and poignant song in the Hamilton Musical. She was determined to be the one to tell Alexander’s story.

  12. Great list. I especially enjoyed Anne Frank and the one from Anne by L. M. Montgomery.

  13. Jane Eyre’s quotes are always amazing! 😀

  14. It’s been years since I read The False Prince, but that was such a great book!

  15. Great quotes! Charlotte Bronte had a lot of really good ones.

  16. I had a harder time turning twenty than I did thirty, forty or fifty. Leaving my teen years behind was awful! So that Anne of the Islanb quote really hit me.

    Thanks for stopping by earlier! You always get to me before I get to you!

    Lori
    https://fiftytwo.blog/2021/11/09/ttt-books-you-recommend-the-most/

  17. I love the Tolkien ones. and Riordan’s as well.

  18. These are wonderful. I love the piece from Anne (I love her as a character so much), and the Frodo/Sam selection is lovely. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone else who’s read Elsewhere!

  19. I love that Holly Golightly quote!

  20. I didn’t recall that quote from Jane Eyre but it’s fabulous

  21. I loved those quotes. I enjoyed The Hobbit and really should read the other books in the series. I love the films so I should enjoy the books! Its just a question of time!

  22. I love that Jane Eyre quote. It really shows the spirit of the book. Great list!

  23. Kel

    You picked some great quotes. I love that we both had one from Jane Eyre.

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