52 Historical Fiction Quotes

Step into the captivating world of historical fiction, where past and prose intertwine to bring the bygone days to life. These meticulously crafted narratives serve as more than mere stories; they are portals to eras filled with intrigue, romance, and the tapestry of human experience. Our compilation of the top 52 historical fiction quotes celebrates the eloquent craftsmanship of authors who have masterfully woven historical context with timeless themes. Whether you're a fervent fan of the genre or a curious newcomer, these quotes offer a glimpse into the enduring power of storytelling that transcends time, inviting readers to experience history through a kaleidoscope of perspectives and emotions.

1. “No, It's not fair. But I was thinking more along the lines of the Pentagon and Washington itself. Sometimes I suspect that those who are running things might grow addicted to power. Secrecy's essential in wartime, but once in place, will it ever be removed?” - Marge Piercy

2. “Nobody hates us as ourselves. In their minds we're not human... They don't hate us because we did something or said something. They make us stand for an evil they invent and then they want to kill it in us.” - Marge Piercy

3. “Over time, this unspoken attration continued to blossom, refusing to dwindle or fade, though they had little opportunity to foster or nourish it. Slowly and patiently, Robert's sheer persistence in the chase had revealed his heart, and Charlotte came to realize the nameless thing between them was love.” - Emery Lee

4. “He watched the newly arrived commuters as they stepped into the carriage, pushed their way down the tube, the odours from their damp clothes mingling, giving off varying degrees of mustiness: London grime, or smoke from airless offices. A woman wearing a blue swing coat glanced along the carriage, casting around for an empty seat. Her pale skin, the searching green eyes, reminded him of Emma. Briefly, he felt his breath catch; he stood, clambered back over his neighbour and indicated for her to take his seat. And so his mind stayed with Emma when he knew he should be working out a strategy for telling Dorothy of his news. But Emma was never far away; like the glitter balls in dance halls, she would slowly rotate in his memory, different facets reappearing, as the hues changed in her auburn hair.” - Amanda Sington-Williams

5. “Life is volatile.” - Robert J. Pajer

6. “lightning thief was good but the sea of monsters is better and has more action!” - Rick Riordan

7. “And once you've been to this Center, this Truth, you'll know your way everywhere. You are never lost again.” - David Housholder

8. “I want you forever. I will always be with you. I will always love you. I will love, honor, and cherish you for all eternity.” - Katrina "Adrian" Miller

9. “Katherine of Aragon was speaking out for the women of the country, for the good wives who should not be put aside just because their husbands had taken a fancy to another, for the women who walked the hard road between kitchen, bedroom, church and childbirth. For the women who deserved more than their husband's whim.” - Philippa Gregory

10. “He speaks in that strange sports talk, telling me about the start of the new season and asks if I follow baseball. No. I really don’t. He assures me if I stay in town long enough I will become a baseball fan. It’s a requirement of living in St. Louis. Everyone is a Cardinal’s fan. “Loyal,” he tells me. St. Louis is a loyal town.” - Gwenn Wright

11. “I had turned to leave and he had called after me. “Miss Maria, I kin no other woman who could be wearing men’s trousers and be dripping such as ye are and look quite so lovely. It’s a right shame your mother is marrying you off to that great sot!”I had turned to call back to him, “I doubt very much we will have to worry about that after today!” - Gwenn Wright

12. “There are some things you never say good-bye to” - Elizabeth Berg

13. “True vice, my lady, would frighten us all, if it did not wear the mask of virtue. (p.56)” - Emery Lee

14. “Good men are often more practical than pretty " said Mother. "Andrius just happens to be both.” - Ruta Sepetys

15. “How did I get here How did I end up in the arms of a boy I barely knew but knew I didn't want to lose I wondered what I would have thought of Andrius in Lithuania. Would I have liked him Would he have liked me” - Ruta Sepetys

16. “Conformity is deformity” - Sharon Desruisseaux

17. “All things in Fiji are paid for in blood.” - Lance Morcan & James Morcan

18. “Fairy tales only happen in movies." -George Meliesfrom The Invention of Hugo Cabret” - Brian Selznick

19. “Sonetimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself.” - Sarah Sundin

20. “— Так, мальчик… — Графиня пошарила в кармане. — Ты доведешь нас еще за несколько пенсов до Солсбери-Корта?— До Солсбери-Корта? Этого логова грубых и жестоких дикарей? Поздно ночью? В туман? И без мужской защиты? — Мальчик скорчил гримасу и пустился наутек, крича на ходу: — Ни за что на свете!” - Fidelis Morgan

21. “Some ghosts are so quiet you would hardly know they were there.” - Bernie Mcgill

22. “Riding a bull must be a bit like flying an ultralight. You get up there and have an exhilarating ride, but then you still have to get down.” - Susan Spence

23. “Soeur Seraphina gently removed my lace fontanges. It was named for the King’s mistress Angelique de Fontanges, who had lost her hat while hunting one day and had hastily tied up her curls with her garter. The King had admired the effect, and the next day all the court ladies had appeared with their curls tied back with lace” - Kate Forsyth

24. “Before I disappear behind the door, I stop and turn around to look at him.” - Nancy B. Brewer

25. “Are you a traveling man he asked?” - Nancy B. Brewer

26. “It was a warm and natural feeling to be there. We were not black or white people. We were just people bound together by love and understanding. As I walked out of that church, I felt like I had rediscovered my inner peace.” - Nancy B. Brewer

27. “Perhaps you have visited my grave and flowers left, but did you hear me cry out to you!” - Nancy B. Brewer

28. “There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles,” Chiron said. “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?” - Madeline Miller

29. “After all, that's why we read historical fiction-to be transported to another time, and to be astonished at ancient people's lives and traditions, just as they would probably be astonished at ours.” - Michelle Moran

30. “I been running up a bill with the devil ever since, and now he's come to collect on the debt.” - Steven B. Weissman

31. “Naughty John, Naughty John, does his work with his apron on. Cuts your throat and takes your bones, sells 'em off for a coupla stones.” - Libba Bray

32. “Every time you go to see Hamlet you don't expect it to have a happy ending...you're still enthralled.(Interview BBC Radio 4 Today 17 October 2012.)” - Hilary Mantel

33. “She turned her painted blue eyes toward the assistant and said something in French before she left.” - Nancy B. Brewer

34. “But you see, Crumb, it is hard to give up what you have worked at since you were a boy. There were some Italian visitors once, they were cheering us on, Brandon and myself, and they thought that Achilles and Hector had come back to life. So they said.'But which is which? One dragged through the dust by the other ...The king says, 'You turn your boy out beautifully. No nobleman could do more.''I don't want him to be Achilles,' he says, 'I only want him not to be flattened.” - Hilary Mantel

35. “You can be merry with the king, you can share a joke with him. But as Thomas More used to say, it's like sporting with a tamed lion. You tousle its mane and pull its ears, but all the time you're thinking, those claws, those claws, those claws.” - Hilary Mantel

36. “That is our Shield Ring, our last stronghold; not the barrier fells and the totter-moss between, but something in the hearts of men.” - Rosemary Sutcliff

37. “Rebel Number Four" is waiting patiently by the door. I named him "Rebel Number Four," for he is the fourth of his kind I have given the name "Rebel." To many he may be just a hound dog, but to me he is a champion and a friend to the end.” - Nancy B. Brewer

38. “All good things originate with the Creator God, he'd been taught, and the Song of Life was no exception.” - Sandi Layne

39. “Cowan son of Branieucc, you're the only one of my people that I know for sure still lives.” - Sandi Layne

40. “LIPID (Last Idiot Person I Dated) syndrome: a largely undiagnosed but pervasive disease that afflicts single women.” - Lauren Willig

41. “It would be, like all of Pammy's parties, hot and crowded and filled with impossibly glamorous people with hip bones so sharp they could qualify as concealed weapons.” - Lauren Willig

42. “If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent Him. But all nature cries aloud that He does exist."(Voltaire)” - Elizabeth Kales

43. “Once more, I am watching the most powerful men in the kingdom bring their power to bear on a woman who has done nothing worse than live to the beat of her own heart, see with her own eyes; but this is not their tempo nor their vision and they cannot tolerate any other.” - Philippa Gregory

44. “The lines in the corners of her eyes spoke of years of wisdom, as a tree with the number of rings increasing with each passing year. She was a small frame of a woman with piercing eyes that suggested that they knew you, understood you even.” - F.C. Malby

45. “9 November 1989. A day nobody would forget. She had heard rumours about the wall.” - F.C. Malby

46. “Mr Martinek turned back to Jana. 'Thirty-eight per cent alcohol, sixty-two per cent fire - all the way from Karlovy Vary.” - F.C. Malby

47. “This building fool could only be Bess of Hardwicke, a woman whose name is seldom seen in print without the word “redoubtable” in front of it. I wondered if anyone ever called her redoubtable to her face. I redoubted it.” - JoAnn Spears

48. “Megan’s deception is another hook on which I can hang my conscience.” - Jenny Lloyd

49. “All that I was and the world that was mine are gone forever.” - Jenny Lloyd

50. “Humans will never be in charge of this world, as long as dust and weeds do as they please.” - Nancy B. Brewer

51. “It is important for a woman to have the duplicity to make good use of whatever gifts she might have, however valueless they might seem... You have to have the inner strength to pursue your goal, and not care how many enemies you make along the road. It is not easy.” - Anne O'Brien

52. “Amy wondered if Bonaparte could declare war on Miss Gwen alone without breaking his peace with England” - Lauren Willig