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381 quotes, newest first. New quotes join the top of the page as they are published, and every quote keeps its own page.

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Every quote on GKBook is traced to the book, speech, letter or interview it came from before it is published. A famous line that cannot be traced is kept because people search for it, but it is labelled "Attributed to", and a line that belongs to someone else is labelled "Often credited to" with the real origin beside it.

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Quotes from Books — 381 Quotes from Books, Each Checked to Its Source

Famous lines from books: the sentences readers underline in novels, memoirs and plays, from Shakespeare and Austen to Murakami, each traced to its page.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The Bible · The source reads: “Thy word is a lantern unto my feet: and a light unto my paths.” · Psalm 119:105. The familiar King James wording; the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations gives the Book of Common Prayer psalter.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death.

The Bible · Revelation 6:8

What I have written I have written.

The Bible · John 19:22

Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

The Bible · Ecclesiastes 12:12

Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.

Frank Zappa

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.

William Wordsworth

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.

Virginia Woolf

A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.

Virginia Woolf

To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.

P. G. Wodehouse

I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

Tennessee Williams

The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.

Kenneth Williams

Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.

Thornton Wilder

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

Oscar Wilde

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.

Oscar Wilde · Miss Prism on her novel, in 'The Importance of Being Earnest' (1895) act 2.

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.

Rebecca West

Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.

John Wesley

When men write for profit, they are not very delicate.

Horace Walpole

Quotes from Books

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death.

What I have written I have written.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

My name is Legion: for we are many.

It is a foolish thing to make a long prologue, and to be short in the story itself.

Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.

A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.

To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.

I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.

Literature is the orchestration of platitudes.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.

Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.

When men write for profit, they are not very delicate.

All is for the best in the best of possible worlds.

As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.

A classic: a book which people praise and don't read.

A good book is the best of friends, the same to-day and for ever.

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Quotes from Books

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

“What I have written I have written.”

“Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”

“Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.”

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.”

“To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.”

“The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.”

“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.”

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.”

“When men write for profit, they are not very delicate.”

Frequently asked questions

We Value Your Opinion Comments

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

What I have written I have written.

Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.

To my daughter Leonora without whose never-failing sympathy and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.

The nice thing about quotes is that they give us a nodding acquaintance with the originator which is often socially impressive.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written.

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.

When men write for profit, they are not very delicate.