51 Iconic Harry Dresden Quotes

The Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher has enchanted readers with its blend of urban fantasy, detective noir, and the wit of its inimitable protagonist, Harry Dresden. As Chicago's only professional wizard, Dresden navigates a world teeming with mystical threats, all while armed with a sharp tongue and a good heart. For fans and newcomers alike, Harry's words offer a mix of humor, wisdom, and insight, capturing the character's essence and the series' unique charm. In this post, we dive into 51 of the most iconic quotes from Harry Dresden himself, each reflecting his resilience, humor, and unyielding sense of justice. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the magical streets of Chicago, these quotes are sure to resonate and entertain.

1. “In the name of the Pizza Lord. Charge!” - Jim Butcher

2. “Sure, we'd faced some things as children that a lot of kids don't. Sure, Justin had qualified for his Junior de Sade Badge in his teaching methods for dealing with pain. We still hadn't learned, though, that growing up is all about getting hurt. And then getting over it. You hurt. You recover. You move on. Odds are pretty good you're just going to get hurt again. But each time, you learn something.Each time, you come out of it a little stronger, and at some point you realize that there are more flavors of pain than coffee. There's the little empty pain of leaving something behind - gradutaing, taking the next step forward, walking out of something familiar and safe into the unknown. There's the big, whirling pain of life upending all of your plans and expecations. There's the sharp little pains of failure, and the more obscure aches of successes that didn't give you what you thought they would. There are the vicious, stabbing pains of hopes being torn up. The sweet little pains of finding others, giving them your love, and taking joy in their life they grow and learn. There's the steady pain of empathy that you shrug off so you can stand beside a wounded friend and help them bear their burdens. And if you're very, very lucky, there are a very few blazing hot little pains you feel when you realized that you are standing in a moment of utter perfection, an instant of triumph, or happiness, or mirth which at the same time cannot possibly last - and yet will remain with you for life.Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.Pain is a part of life. Sometimes it's a big part, and sometimes it isn't, but either way, it's a part of the big puzzle, the deep music, the great game. Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you're alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser, sometimes. Sometimes it leaves you stronger. Either way, pain leaves its mark, and everything important that will ever happen to you in life is going to involve it in one degree or another.” - Jim Butcher

3. “The building was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault.” - Jim Butcher

4. “Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don't want to believe something, they have enormous skills of ignoring it altogether.” - Jim Butcher

5. “We are not going to die." Butters stared up at me, pale, his eyes terrified. "We're not?" "No. And do you know why?" He shook his head. "Because Thomas is too pretty to die. And because I'm too stubborn to die." I hauled on the shirt even harder. "And most of all because tomorrow is Oktoberfest, Butters, and polka will never die.” - Jim Butcher

6. “I'm sure that you psychotic necro-wannabes with delusions of godhood are all about sharing with your fellow maniacs.” - Jim Butcher

7. “Regardless of what I think about Islam or Wicca or any other religion, the fact is that it's a group of people. Every faith has its ceremonies. And since it's made up of people, every faith also has its assholes.” - Jim Butcher

8. “Don't call me a dinosaur. It isn't fair to the dinosaurs. What did a dinosaur ever do to you?” - Jim Butcher

9. “Anger is just anger. It isn't good. It isn't bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters. It's like anything else. You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice."Constructive anger," the demon said, her voice dripping sarcasm. Also known as passion," I said quietly. "Passion has overthrown tyrants and freed prisoners and slaves. Passion has brought justice where there was savagery. Passion has created freedom where there was nothing but fear. Passion has helped souls rise from the ashes of their horrible lives and build something better, stronger, more beautiful.” - Jim Butcher

10. “Loneliness is a hard thing to handle. I feel it, sometimes. When I do, I want it to end. Sometimes, when you're near someone, when you touch them on some level that is deeper than the uselessly structured formality of casual civilized interaction, there's a sense of satisfaction in it. Or at least, there is for me. It doesn't have to be someone particularly nice. You don't have to like them. You don't even have to want to work with them. You might even want to punch them in the nose. Sometimes just making that connection is its own experience, its own reward.” - Jim Butcher

11. “If your opponent has you by fifty pounds, winning a fight against him is a dubious proposition, at best. If your opponent has you by eight thousand and fifty pounds, you’ve left the realm of combat and enrolled yourself in Road-kill 101. Or possibly in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.” - Jim Butcher

12. “Where instinct fails, intellect must venture.” - Jim Butcher

13. “I think that men ought to treat women like something other than weaker men with breasts.” - Jim Butcher

14. “I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of people might have mistaken it for a sudden yelp of unmanly fear, but trust me. It was a battle cry.” - Jim Butcher

15. “Nobody can be bad at everything. There’s no such thing as a perfect screwup.” - Jim Butcher

16. “Something like this will test you like nothing else," Mac said. "You're going to find out who you are, Harry. You're going to find out which principles you'll stand by to your death--and which lines you'll cross." He took my empty glass away and said, "You're heading into the badlands. It'll be easy to get lost.” - Jim Butcher

17. “I choose my battles, Dresden. Not you." She looked up at me calmly. "Let me put this in terms that will get through your skull: My friend is going to save a child from monsters. I'm going with him. That's what friends do, Harry.” - Jim Butcher

18. “All right. Tell me what I'm looking at."From the improvised Rolling Stones T-shirt bag tied to my sash, Bob the Skull said, in his most caustic voice, "A giant pair of cartoon lips."I muttered a curse and fumbled with the shirt until one of the skull's glowing orange eye sockets was visible.A big goofy magic nerd!" Bob said.” - Jim Butcher

19. “You're such a cynic," Molly said."I think cynics are playful and cute.” - Jim Butcher

20. “You don't take your cat with you to go bird shopping. Not because the cat isn't polite, but because he's a cat.” - Jim Butcher

21. “...The next time I opened my eyes, I was in the morgue.This, all by itself, is enough to really ruin your day.I was lying on the examining table, and Butters, complete with his surgical gown and his tray of autopsy instruments, stood over me.'I'm not dead!' I sputtered. 'I'm not dead!'- Harry Dresden, Death Masks, Jim Butcher” - Jim Butcher

22. “My laboratory,' I said, experimentally, drawing out each syllable. 'Why is it that saying it like that always makes me want to follow it with 'mwoo-hah-hah-hahhhhh'? ''You were overexposed to Hammer Films as a child?' - Harry Dresden & Bob the Skull, Changes, Jim Butcher” - Jim Butcher

23. “So in addition to a feisty new Black Court partner in the war dance between the Council and the Vampire Courts, I also got angry lust bunny movies stars, deadly curses, and a thoroughly embarrassing job as my investigative cover.Oh, and bean curd pizza, which is just wrong.What a mess.I made a mental note: The next time I saw Thomas, I was going to punch him right in the nose.” - Jim Butcher

24. “Wait. You don't understand. I just wanted it to stop. Wanted the hurting to stop."I smoothed a bloodied lock of hair from her eyes and felt very tired as I said, "The only people who never hurt are dead."The light died out of her eyes, her breath slowing. She whispered, barely audible, "I don't understand."I answered, "I don't either."A tear slid from her eye and mixed with the blood.Then she died.” - Jim Butcher

25. “Son. Everyone dies alone. That's what it is. It's a door. It's one person wide. When you go through it, you do it alone. But it doesn't mean you've got to be alone before you go through the door. And believe me, you aren't alone on the other side.” - Jim Butcher

26. “I was seducing shepherdesses when you weren't a twinkle in your great-grandcestor's eyes. I think I know what I'm doing.” - Jim Butcher

27. “Do you have a little white dress? I've had this deep-seated nurse fantasy about you, Murphy.” - Jim Butcher

28. “I still can't believe," Michael said, sotto voce, "that you came to the Vampires' Masquerade Ball dressed as a vampire.” - Jim Butcher

29. “Bite me, faerie fruitcake.” - Jim Butcher

30. “You backbiting, poisonous, treacherous, deceitful, wicked, clever girl. If this works I'll buy you a pony.” - Jim Butcher

31. “I don't believe in faeries!” - Jim Butcher

32. “It isn't good to hold on too hard to the past. You can't spend your whole life looking back. Not even when you can't see what lies ahead. All you can do is keep on keeping on, and try to believe that tomorrow will be what it should be—even if it isn't what you expected.” - Jim Butcher

33. “Jobs are a part of life. Maybe you've heard of the concept. It's called work? See, what happens is that you suffer through doing annoying and humiliating things until you get paid not enough money. Like those Japanese game shows, only without all the glory.” - Jim Butcher

34. “I'd been in hairier situations than this one. Actually, it's sort of depressing, thinking how many times I'd been in them. But if experience had taught me anything, it was this: No matter how screwed up things are, they can get a whole lot worse.” - Jim Butcher

35. “I wish I worried about my uncle's opinions, and had problems to work out with my mom. Hell, I'd settle for knowing what her voice sounded like." I put a hand on her shoulder. "Trite but true—you don't know what you have until it's gone. People change. The world changes. And sooner or later you lose people you care about. If you don't mind some advice from someone who doesn't know much about families, I can tell you this: Don't take yours for granted. It might feel like all of them will always be there. But they won't.” - Jim Butcher

36. “Dammit, Dresden, if you want to know about me, wait for the autobiography like everyone else.” - Jim Butcher

37. “Gandalf never had this kind of problem. He had exactly this problem, actually, standing in front of the hidden Dwarf door to Moria. Remember when . . . I sighed. Sometimes my inner monologue annoys even me. “Edro, edro,” I muttered. “Open.” I rubbed at the bridge of my nose and ventured, “Mellon.” Nothing happened. The wards stayed. I guessed the Corpsetaker had never read Tolkien. Tasteless bitch.” - Jim Butcher

38. “I didn't know this before, but as it turns out, Tyrannosaurs can really haul ass.” - Jim Butcher

39. “No,” she said. “You are not Patrick Swayze. I am not Demi Moore.” She touched a switch on the little box and it started ticking. “And this sure as hell isn't pottery class.” - Jim Butcher

40. “Thomas was an annoying wiseass who tended to make everyone he met want to kill him, and when I have that much in common with someone, I can't help but like him a little.” - Jim Butcher

41. “Seedy wasn't a fair description for the place, because seeds imply eventual regrowth and renewal.” - Jim Butcher

42. “So we get a plan," I said. "Any suggestions?""Blow up the building," Kincaid said without looking up. "That works good for vampires. Then soak what's left in gasoline. Set it on fire. Then blow it all up again.""For future reference, I was sort of hoping for a suggestion that didn't sound like it came from that Bolshevik Muppet with all the dynamite.” - Jim Butcher

43. “No matter where you go, there you are. [- Uriel to Harry Dresden]” - Jim Butcher

44. “EASTER HAS BEEN CANCELED - THEY FOUND THE BODY” - Jim Butcher

45. “Injun Joe studied the body for a moment, his eyes sad. Then he said, "I'd rather go in my sleep, I think." He glanced back at me. "What about you?""I want to be stepped on by an elephant while having sex with identical triplet cheerleaders," I said.” - Jim Butcher

46. “Maybe,” he said in a slow, rural drawl, “you could explain to me why I found you in the middle of an orgy.” “Well,” I said, “if you’re going to be in an orgy, the middle is the best spot, isn’t it.” - Jim Butcher

47. “It doesn't make you a monster to want, she said, her voice very gentle. It's what you do with it that matters.” - Jim Butcher

48. “There's always, always a choice. My options might really, truly suck, but that doesn't mean there isn't a choice.” - Jim Butcher

49. “Molly blinked, then looked at Thomas and said, "Wait a minute.... We're his flunkies.""You, may be," Thomas said, sneering. "I'm his thug. I'm way higher than a flunky.""You are high if you think I'm taking any orders from you," Molly said tartly.” - Jim Butcher

50. “Karrin, eh?" Thomas asked.I nodded. "She's real serious about order. A man dying, she can understand. A man coming back. That's different.""Isn't she Catholic?" Thomas asked. "Don't they have a guy?” - Jim Butcher

51. “Aer-O-Smith. Arrowsmith. Does the shirt belong to your weapon dealer?”“No.”“Then why do you wear the shirt of someone else’s weapon dealer?” - Jim Butcher