Top Ten Tuesday (27)
Top Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week we are listing
Top Ten Favorite Quotes from Books
1. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien: “In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.”
2. Hamlet by William Shakespeare: Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act IV: “How all occasions do inform against me…”
3. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
4. The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton: “Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot you see that everything is stooping and hiding a face? If we could only get round in front–”
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis: “‘In our world,’ said Eustace, ‘a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.’ ’Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.’”
6. “On Fairy-Stories” by J. R. R. Tolkien: “I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which ‘Escape’ is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?”
7. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien: “It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.”
8. Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis: “‘Sir,’ said the Mouse, ‘I can eat and sleep and die for my King without one. But a tail is the honor and glory of a Mouse.’”
9. The Black Rider and Other Lines by Stephen Crane:
“Tell brave deeds of war.”
Then they recounted tales, —
“There were stern stands
And bitter runs for glory.”
Ah, I think there were braver deeds.
10. The Children of Húrin by J. R. R. Tolkien: “The defiance of Húrin Thalion is a great deed; and though Morgoth slay the doer he cannot make the deed not to have been.”
Posted on 05/08/2012, in Memes and tagged TTT. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
Fantastic list! Love #4
Thanks! I liked your list, as well! Charlotte’s Web and Alice in Wonderland are great books!
I love that LOTR quote! Such a good one!
My TTT: http://www.pocketfulofbooks.com/2012/05/top-ten-tuesday-favourite-book-quotes.html
Thanks! It was hard for me to pick just one! LotR is full of great quotes!
Chesterton, Lewis and Tolkien! Among my favorites! A great list!
It’s always great to find another fan of any of them! I see you have Chaim Potok on your list–he’s one of my favorite authors, too!
I love #8. C. S. Lewis is so good.
I can’t believe I forgot C.S. Lewis on mine!!
Good list!
great post. My daughter’s just started reading the Hobbit this week. I read the first chapter to her and instantly remembered how alive it was, how it get straight to the story without preamble. I might be borrowing it from her when she’s finished…!
Thanks! I love returning to The Hobbit. As you say, it’s always more magical than I remembered it. The best part for me is rereading those first lines and suddenly finding myself back in Middle-earth–and wondering why I ever left.