# What is your favorite single line from a book?



## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

What is your favorite single line from a book? What one sentence either stuck with you in such a way that you have never forgotten it, or springs to mind in the middle of a situation?

Mine is from Gone With the Wind: "Tomorrow is another day."


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I'm sure I could come up with a few dozen just from Roger Zelazny, but the one I'll never forget (and which you must read in context to understand why it sticks in my head):

"That's when the fit hit the Shan."
~ _Lord of Light_


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

NogDog said:


> I'm sure I could come up with a few dozen just from Roger Zelazny, but the one I'll never forget (and which you must read in context to understand why it sticks in my head):
> 
> "That's when the fit hit the Shan."
> ~ _Lord of Light_


Actually, I don't think I have to think about it very hard; sounds like a similar line from _Irwin Shaw_'s *Beggarman, Thief* when Rudy gets fed up with being unappreciated by his ungrateful family after he bends over backward to help them out time after time and makes a New Year's resolution. Can't say the line, though; but suffice it to say it's the only time a profanity cracked me up! And yes; you have to read it in context and know the character to understand why it's so funny.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

In my case, part of the reason the line sticks in my head is that everything that leads up to it is pretty serious (not that there aren't some humorous moments), and when that play on words pops out, it's such a surprise when you realize he'd spent the last several pages setting you up for it.


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## Adrian P (Aug 5, 2014)

The only things that pop to the top of my mind are the books that are famous in that special way where the plot twist is the most well-known thing about them.

For example - "Soylent Green is people!"


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## Ergodic Mage (Jan 23, 2012)

"It takes strength to judge the weakness of others, I am not so mighty." Lord Mhoram


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## Franny Fearnby (Jul 9, 2014)

Moose Malloy was a man; A big man.

The greatest opening line ever. His other prose is beautiful too..


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Ergodic Mage said:


> "It takes strength to judge the weakness of others, I am not so mighty." Lord Mhoram


I like that. Reminds me of Mr. Knightley's words to Emma, when he regretted having to tell her that her behavior was beneath the woman he knew she could be, yet he had to tell her when she did wrong, especially if she hurt someone else with careless words. Her words to her father about his rebuke (in Mr. Knightley's presence) that some of her friends doubted that she still possessed kindness. "A true friend never doubts, but always hopes."

In other words, there are times when it is best to "judge" a weakness by simply telling someone that we know they can be better, and we want to see them strive to the excellence that we know they can attain.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Franny Fearnby said:


> Moose Malloy was a man; A big man.
> 
> The greatest opening line ever. His other prose is beautiful too..
> 
> I will have to check it out!


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

I actually have many but today I'll quote this one 

“But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.” 
― William Goldman, The Princess Bride

And also... "I'm not your witch, I'm your wife!" 


I love that book!


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## K.B. Rose (Sep 7, 2014)

One that comes to mind isn't from the book itself, but from the acknowledgments page:

"This is not for you."

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. I was hooked from the start. There are many great lines in that book.


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## PaulLev (Nov 2, 2012)

"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." - William Gibson, Neuromancer


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

ValeriGail said:


> I actually have many but today I'll quote this one
> 
> "But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all."
> ― William Goldman, The Princess Bride
> ...


Never read the book but loved the movie. My favorite single line (from the movie) "I want you to tell me how you feel; and remember this is for posterity, so please, be honest."


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## Lcthulou (Dec 6, 2013)

"The Haunting of Hill House," Shirley Jackson:

Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

"And me on a buckskin pony with eyes like blue electricity and a mane like tangled fire, galloping up the hill and right off into the high heaven of the world." -- From William Faulkner's short story "Carcassonne."  Hard to beat that line!


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Lcthulou said:


> "The Haunting of Hill House," Shirley Jackson:
> 
> Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.


Technically, that's TWO lines, but I won't quibble as you had to set up the second line. And I agree, those last six words are some of the most haunting in literature. "and whatever walked there, walked alone."


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

lmroth12 said:


> Never read the book but loved the movie. My favorite single line (from the movie) "I want you to tell me how you feel; and remember this is for posterity, so please, be honest."


The movie has been a favorite since it originally aired... But I just recently read the book. The movie mirrors the book pretty well. I read the 25th anniversary addition, so there were additional notes in with his... I'm not sure what to call them so will just call them breaks in the story... About the movie along with his father originally reading him the story. I haven't laughed that hard reading a book in a long time. Knowing the story line didn't hamper the enjoyment because there are a good majority of things left out of the movie or reworked for Hollywood magic's sake. I rank this book up in my top ten ever read!


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## devalong (Aug 28, 2014)

“I had a feeling that Pandora's box contained the mysteries of woman's sensuality, so different from a man's and for which man's language was so inadequate. The language of sex had yet to be invented. The language of the senses was yet to be explored.”  Anais Nin, Delta of Venus.


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## JamieW (Sep 1, 2014)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Daphne du Maurier, _Rebecca_

I read it in a secondhand bookstore when I ditched school one day. It stuck in my mind forever.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

ValeriGail said:


> The movie has been a favorite since it originally aired... But I just recently read the book. The movie mirrors the book pretty well. I read the 25th anniversary addition, so there were additional notes in with his... I'm not sure what to call them so will just call them breaks in the story... About the movie along with his father originally reading him the story. I haven't laughed that hard reading a book in a long time. Knowing the story line didn't hamper the enjoyment because there are a good majority of things left out of the movie or reworked for Hollywood magic's sake. I rank this book up in my top ten ever read!


I had long been a fan of the movie before I read the book. Let's face it, you can start a whole thread going with people posting quotes from the movie.

But the book was just pure gold. I almost believed it was real.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

JamieW said:


> "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Daphne du Maurier, _Rebecca_
> 
> I read it in a secondhand bookstore when I ditched school one day. It stuck in my mind forever.


One of my faves as well, along with "Manderley was no more."


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## JamieW (Sep 1, 2014)

lmroth12 said:


> One of my faves as well, along with "Manderley was no more."


Yes! It always amazes me when I see a line in a novel that distills layers of meaning into a few words, like the examples on this thread. Like most non-authors, I can't begin to fathom where this magic comes from!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

JamieW said:


> Yes! It always amazes me when I see a line in a novel that distills layers of meaning into a few words, like the examples on this thread. Like most non-authors, I can't begin to fathom where this magic comes from!


One of the reasons I like reading authors like Roger Zelazny and, to a lesser extent, Glen Cook is when they can express a lot with a few words; perhaps using a metaphor instead of a simile, or a verb instead of and adjective, resulting in a short, sweet sentence that paints a vivid picture in my mind, rather than verbose, flowery sentences other writers might use to try to paint that mental picture (and unlike this long, rambling sentence  ).


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## JamieW (Sep 1, 2014)

NogDog said:


> One of the reasons I like reading authors like Roger Zelazny and, to a lesser extent, Glen Cook is when they can express a lot with a few words; perhaps using a metaphor instead of a simile, or a verb instead of and adjective, resulting in a short, sweet sentence that paints a vivid picture in my mind, rather than verbose, flowery sentences other writers might use to try to paint that mental picture (and unlike this long, rambling sentence  ).


LOL. As a fellow-rambler, I love that spare vividness. My dad introduced me to Roger Zelazny - love _Lord of Light_. Some of those authors are such a hard act to follow!


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

lmroth12 said:


> Technically, that's TWO lines, but I won't quibble ...."


I hope you don't quibble with me either as my quote is two sentences also.

From Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities:
"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!"

Deckard


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## Natasha Holme (May 26, 2012)

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, from memory, read 15 years ago. Something very like:

He knew that [name??] was a socialist because he used words like 'utopia' and 'panacea' and because he disapproved of Hitler who had done such a great job of combating unamerican activities in Germany.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

deckard said:


> I hope you don't quibble with me either as my quote is two sentences also.
> 
> From Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities:
> "A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!"
> ...


I won't quibble as, again, you are setting up the second line with the first.


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## pmac (Sep 22, 2014)

"Between grief and nothing I will take grief."
Faulkner


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

pmac said:


> "Between grief and nothing I will take grief."
> Faulkner


Rather akin to "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

"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."---From A Tale of Two Cities. Always gives me chills.


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

I have two lines that just stuck with me for whatever crazy reason. One is from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, when Shadow describes Mr. Wednesday's grin. "Like a fox eating shit from a barbed-wire fence". I think I laughed for twenty minutes.

The second is (don't laugh)...from a comic book. It's a particular issue of Wolverine, where a crazy android hunts various characters and kills them, but not without first asking them: what's the meaning of life?" Meanwhile, Wolverine breaks into some database where he finds out everything about his past. When the android finally reaches Wolverine he asks him about the meaning of life and Wolverine replies something along the lines of: I just found out that everything I ever believed was a lie, and you want to ask me about the meaning of life you f*****g genocide machine? It's like this!" Then, he pushes a button and the entire spaceship they're on (I did mention the spaceship, right?) just explodes. For some reason I can't hear someone talking about the meaning of life without thinking of that awesome line. 

Anyway...sorry...that's just what goes on in the mind of a scifi writer


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> I have two lines that just stuck with me for whatever crazy reason. One is from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, when Shadow describes Mr. Wednesday's grin. "Like a fox eating [crap] from a barbed-wire fence". I think I laughed for twenty minutes.
> 
> The second is (don't laugh)...from a comic book. It's a particular issue of Wolverine, where a crazy android hunts various characters and kills them, but not without first asking them: what's the meaning of life?" Meanwhile, Wolverine breaks into some database where he finds out everything about his past. When the android finally reaches Wolverine he asks him about the meaning of life and Wolverine replies something along the lines of: I just found out that everything I ever believed was a lie, and you want to ask me about the meaning of life you f*****g genocide machine? It's like this!" Then, he pushes a button and the entire spaceship they're on (I did mention the spaceship, right?) just explodes. For some reason I can't hear someone talking about the meaning of life without thinking of that awesome line.
> 
> Anyway...sorry...that's just what goes on in the mind of a scifi writer


Neil certainly has a way with words, doesn't he?!


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## Andrei Cherascu (Sep 17, 2014)

lmroth12 said:


> Neil certainly has a way with words, doesn't he?!


He sure does. For some reason I always avoided his work until a friend of mine practically threatened she'll stop talking to me until I read some of his stuff. I picked up American Gods and now it's one of my favorite books.

I have Sandman waiting on my bookshelf but I'm still waiting for autumn to fully kick. Seems like an "autumn" book.


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## Joseph J Bailey (Jun 28, 2013)

The Bene Gesserit litany against fear was one of the first quotes from fiction that struck me as particularly apt in daily life.

There have been many wonderful quotes since, but this was the first that struck home in my mind and found a place.

_Fear is the mind killer._

Taken from the full litany:

_I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain._


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

Andrei Cherascu said:


> I have two lines that just stuck with me for whatever crazy reason. One is from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, when Shadow describes Mr. Wednesday's grin. "Like a fox eating [crap] from a barbed-wire fence". I think I laughed for twenty minutes.
> 
> The second is (don't laugh)...from a comic book. It's a particular issue of Wolverine, where a crazy android hunts various characters and kills them, but not without first asking them: what's the meaning of life?" Meanwhile, Wolverine breaks into some database where he finds out everything about his past. When the android finally reaches Wolverine he asks him about the meaning of life and Wolverine replies something along the lines of: I just found out that everything I ever believed was a lie, and you want to ask me about the meaning of life you f*****g genocide machine? It's like this!" Then, he pushes a button and the entire spaceship they're on (I did mention the spaceship, right?) just explodes. For some reason I can't hear someone talking about the meaning of life without thinking of that awesome line.
> 
> Anyway...sorry...that's just what goes on in the mind of a scifi writer


This makes me want to read more comics.

I have a favorite quote from an online comic (which also has two published books) cyanide and happiness.. "You don't love Science, you admire its butt as it walks by."

(My niece is studying to be a scientist, technically she is one already... But is still "studying" cause she LOVES science.. Which is why the quote is so funny)


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Joseph J Bailey said:


> The Bene Gesserit litany against fear was one of the first quotes from fiction that struck me as particularly apt in daily life.
> 
> There have been many wonderful quotes since, but this was the first that struck home in my mind and found a place.
> 
> _Fear is the mind killer._


A very powerful statement, and one I completely agree with! I love to read biographies, and it is amazing how many people have been pressured by friends, family, and other well-meaning mentors and co-workers to give up their dreams or settle for what they have, all because they don't want to watch them suffer or run the risk of failure in a new venture. Needless to say it was those who overcame their fears who persevered, broke through, and saw their dreams come to fruition.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

ValeriGail said:


> This makes me want to read more comics.
> 
> I have a favorite quote from an online comic (which also has two published books) cyanide and happiness.. "You don't love Science, you admire its butt as it walks by."
> 
> (My niece is studying to be a scientist, technically she is one already... But is still "studying" cause she LOVES science.. Which is why the quote is so funny)


That kind of ambiguity reminds me of Han Solo's immortal line when he meets Princess Leia and after she insults him she takes matters into her own hands by blasting a hole in the wall so they can escape the stormtroopers. He turns to Luke Skywalker and says, "Wonderful girl: either I'm gonna kill her or I'm beginning to like her."


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## alsentan (Jul 26, 2014)

"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I dig that one.


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