79 Memorable Novel Quotes

In the vast realm of literature, certain lines capture our imagination, resonate with our emotions, and leave an indelible impression on our minds. These memorable novel quotes often distill complex feelings and profound truths into a few beautifully crafted words, echoing across time to touch readers in deeply personal ways. Whether they offer wisdom, stir up nostalgia, or simply bring a smile, these quotes are celebrated for their literary brilliance and the powerful connections they forge. Join us as we explore a curated collection of the top 79 memorable novel quotes, each chosen for its enduring impact and ability to inspire.

1. “And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever.” - Nicholas Sparks

2. “In inventing [General Juan Manuel de] Rosas’ self-justification, I have taken the liberty of drawing almost exclusively on the words of Tony Blair, and the various self-justifications he produced to defend his foreign policy adventures with George Bush in the Middle East and the Central Asia.” - Harry Thompson

3. “Please, touch me, I pray.” - Jess C. Scott

4. “[novan]: bassists are very good with their fingers[novan]: and some of us sing backup vocals, so that means we're good with our mouths too...(~ IM chat with Novan Chang, 18, bassist)” - Jess C. Scott

5. “It was disconcerting that being in love felt lonelier than lonelines.” - Emily Maguire

6. “Houses are like books: so many of them around you, yet you only look at a few and visit or reside in fewer still.” - Milorad Pavic

7. “The use of imaginative fiction is to deepen your understanding of your world, and your fellow men, and your own feelings, and your destiny.” - Ursula K. Le Guin

8. “And life? Life itself? Was it perhaps only an infection, a sickening of matter? Was that which one might call the original procreation of matter only a disease, a growth produced by morbid stimulation of the immaterial? The first step toward evil, toward desire and death, was taken precisely then, when there took place that first increase in the density of the spiritual, that pathologically luxuriant morbid growth, produced by the irritant of some unknown infiltration; this, in part pleasurable, in part a motion of self-defense, was the primeval stage of matter, the transition from the insubstantial to the substance. This was the Fall.” - Thomas Mann

9. “تضع يديها على كتفي وتضغطني إلى الأسفل طالبةً مني أن أتربع على الأرض. أستجيب من دون أن أعرف مرادها. تجلس فوقي وتضع أصابعهاعلى قرعة رأسي. تبدو برأسها كالدجاجة المنحنية على صوص. "وْلُك شو عم تعملي، ليش مركّزة براسي متل البسينات؟" تضحك. "ولُك روق"، تقول. "عندك شاميّة كبيرة هون. نابقة لبرات راسك. منيح اللي ما جرحك الحلاق وهوي عم يحلقلك راسك". "وين وين؟"، أسألها. تستمر بالضحك. "ولُكْ ما بتعرف إنو عندك شامية؟ حدن ما بيعرف راسو؟" تنهض وهي تضحك عائدة إلى كمبيوترها، وأبقى أنا أكتشف رأسي لأول مرة. ” - هلال شومان

10. “أعرف مثلاً أنني -يوماً ما- سأقضي حياتي متنقلاً بين شقة وأخرى في المناطق التي لم أعش فيها يوماً في هذا البلد وتبدو لي غريبة. برج حمود مثلاً. المجتمع الأرمني يجذبني. ربما لأنني لا أعرف عنه كثيراً. يجنح بي الخيال لأرى نفسي في حضرة عجوز أرمنية في كرسي هزاز فيما أنا تحت قدميها، أجلس القرفصاء وأستمع لحكاياتها التي لا تنتهي عن بطل أرمني ما ذبحه الأتراك.وستخبرني العجوز الأرمنية عن الرمّان وهي تقدم لي بعض حبوبه. تقول لي أن كوز الرمان يحوي 365 حبة. تقول لي أن الرمان أنقذ العائلات الأرمنية من الموت المحتم في زمن الأتراك. في الكهوف جلسوا. كلٌّ بيده رمانة. حبة واحدة كل يوم. حبة تبعد الموت لعام كامل. هل هذا صحيح؟ الأرجح لا. لكنّ قصة الرمانة تبقى، شأنها شأن كل القصص، شأنها كل المشاهد التي رأيتها والتي لستُ حتى واثقاً من حدوثها فعلياً.” - هلال شومان

11. “Seorang novelis sebaiknya menciptakan “sebuah wilayah di mana tak seorang pun memiliki kebenaran...tapi di mana setiap orang punya hak untuk dimengerti” - Goenawan Mohamad

12. “You can't really succeed with a novel anyway; they're too big. It's like city planning. You can't plan a perfect city because there's too much going on that you can't take into account. You can, however, write a perfect sentence now and then. I have.” - Gore Vidal

13. “Yet losing him seemed unbearable. He was the one she loved, the one she would always love, and as he leaned in to kiss her, she gave herself over to him. While he held her close, she ran her hands over his shoulders and back, feeling the strength in his arms. She knew he’d wanted more in their relationship than she’d been willing to offer, but here and now, she suddenly knew she had no other choice. There was only this moment, and it was theirs.” - Nicholas Sparks

14. “When you're younger you're so happy to get some good loving you convince yourself you're in love, can't live with out it, and chase the dick like a crack addict after the pipe, or chase the bad sex hoping something happened to the man over night and the next time it'll be good.” - Jill Nelson

15. “Suffering is tossed by handfuls over the multitudes, with most of it falling on some people and little or none of it on others.” - José Luis Peixoto

16. “So...Mason, Eddie, and Mia went to Spokane to hunt Strigoi?""Yes.""Holy shit. Why didn't you go with them? Seems like something you'd do."I resisted the urge to smack him. "Because I'm not insane! But I'm going to go get them before they do something even stupider.” - Richelle Mead

17. “Novelists when they write novels tend to take an almost godlike attitude toward their subject, pretending to a total comprehension of the story, a man's life, which they can therefore recount as God Himself might, nothing standing between them and the naked truth, the entire story meaningful in every detail. I am as little able to do this as the novelist is, even though my story is more important to me than any novelist's is to him - for this is my story; it is the story of a man, not of an invented, or possible, or idealized, or otherwise absent figure, but of a unique being of flesh and blood, Yet, what a real living human being is made of seems to be less understood today than at any time before, and men - each one of whom represents a unique and valuable experiment on the part of nature - are therefore shot wholesale nowadays. If we were not something more than unique human beings, if each one of us could really be done away with once and for all by a single bullet, storytelling would lose all purpose. But every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man's story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous, and worthy of every consideration. In each individual the spirit has become flesh, in each man the creation suffers, within each one a redeemer is nailed to the cross.” - Hermann Hesse

18. “I was flipping channels, watching this cheerleading program on MTV. They took a field hockey girl and “transformed” her into a cheerleader by the end of the show. I was just wondering: what if she liked field hockey better?” - Jess C. Scott

19. “I suppose it’s not a social norm, and not a manly thing to do — to feel, discuss feelings. So that’s what I’m giving the finger to. Social norms and stuff…what good are social norms, really? I think all they do is project a limited and harmful image of people. It thus impedes a broader social acceptance of what someone, or a group of people, might actually be like.” - Jess C. Scott

20. “Temperee, riante, (comme le sont celles d'automne dans la tres gracieuse ville de Buenos Aires) resplendissait la matinee de ce 28 avril: dix heures venait de sonner aux horloges et, a cet instant, eveillee, gesticulant sous le soleil matinal, la Grande Capitale du Sud etait un epi d'hommes qui se disputaient a grands cris la possession du jour et de la terre.” - Leopoldo Marechal

21. “Novels give you the matrix of emotions, give you the flavour of a time in a way formal history cannot.” - Doris Lessing

22. “It is the form that allows a writer the greatest opportunity to explore human experience...For that reason, reading a novel is potentially a significant act. Because there are so many varieties of human experience, so many kinds of interaction between humans, and so many ways of creating patterns in the novel that can’t be created in a short story, a play, a poem or a movie. The novel, simply, offers more opportunities for a reader to understand the world better, including the world of artistic creation. That sounds pretty grand, but I think it’s true.” - Don DeLillo

23. “When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in bad condition in the particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "So it goes.” - Kurt Vonnegut

24. “مناهج الطب المصممة لعلاج المرضي وقتل الأطباء” - أحمد العايدي

25. “Sometimes I think it is my fate to live in the wreckage and confusion of crumbling houses.” - Abdulrazak Gurnah

26. “aku tak habis mengerti, mengapa orang-orang gampang sekali mengata-ngatai pemerintah. Kalau bicara, sekehendak hatinya saja. Apa mereka kira gampang mengelola negara? Mengurusi ratusan juta manusia? Yang semuanya tak bisa diatur. Kalau mereka sendiri yang disuruh mengurusi negara, takkan becus juga!” - Andrea Hirata

27. “عندما تصل إلى هواتفنا رسالة جديدة، غالبا لا تكون ممن ننتظره.” - محمد حامد

28. “الوهم أرض رخوة كالحلم الذي لا نعمل على تحقيقه.” - محمد حامد

29. “الكل ينجح حين يشغله أمر الجودة ويتقن صنعته.” - محمد حامد

30. “People have incredible nerve to do terrible things, but never actually admit to them.” - Henry Mosquera

31. “A great book increases my heartbeat as if I’m prey, melts my insides in anticipation of a first kiss, immerses me in its depths.” - Carmen DeSousa

32. “Amar es ponerse al cuello el nudo corredizo de la ilusión; adorar a alguien mientras pareces asfixiarte. Pero incluso el amor no correspondido, el amor fugaz, es mejor que nada.” - Susan Vreeland

33. “No sé, todavía qué es lo que separa el aprecio del amor.” - Jane Austen

34. “No podría ser feliz con un hombre cuyo gusto no coincidiera en todo momento con el mío. Tendría que participar en todos mis sentimientos. Los mismos libros, la misma música habría de hechizarnos a los dos.” - Jane Austen

35. “Hay tanto de gratitud o de vanidad en casi todos los defectos, que no es cauto abandonarse de ellos.” - Jane Austen

36. “Durante tantos milenios como llevan existiendo, los humanos no han comprendido en realidad qué es el amor. ¿Cuánto hay de físico y cuánto de mental en todo eso? ¿Cuándo es accidente y cuándo destino? ¿Por qué se destruyen parejas que son perfectas y funcionan otras que parecen imposibles? No conozco las respuestas mejor que ellos. El amor está simplemente donde está.” - Stephenie Meyer

37. “Jika ada hal lain yang sangat menakjubkan di dunia ini selain cinta, adalah sepakbola.” - Andrea Hirata

38. “The green-eyed angel came in less than a half hour and fell docile as a lamb into my arms. We kissed and caressed, I met no resistance when I unlaced the strings to free her dress and fill myself in the moist and hot bed nature made between her thighs. We made love outdoors—without a roof, I like most, without stove, my favorite place, assuming the weather be fair and balmy, and the earth beneath be clean. Our souls intertwined and dripping with dew, and our love for each other was seen. Our love for the world was new.” - Roman Payne

39. “Vane grabbed me. “DuLac, let’s chat.”Chat. British-speak for “Stand still while I yell at you.” - Priya Ardis

40. “That’s where they found the skeletons. Right where you’re standing.” - Teresa Flavin

41. “I think all artists struggle to represent the geometryof life in their own way, just like writers deal witharchetypes. There are only so many stories that you cantell, but an infinite number of storytellers.” - Henry Mosquera

42. “Someone once told me that we move when it becomes less painful than staying where we are".” - Anne Hines

43. “La gloire, c'est comme la gouache, ça prend très vite puis ça part à la première goutte de pluie.” - Olivier Weber

44. “Melupakan berarti berusaha menghapus kenangan, sedangkan merelakan berarti belajar melepaskan.” - Irin Sintriana

45. “Aku ingin melihatmu tertawa dan bahagia karenaku.” - Irin Sintriana

46. “If human nature does alter it will be because individuals manage to look at themselves in a new way. Here and there people — a very few people, but a few novelists are among them — are trying to do this. Every institution and vested interest is against such a search: organized religion, the State, the family in its economic aspect, have nothing to gain, and it is only when outward prohibitions weaken that it can proceed: history conditions it to that extent. Perhaps the searchers will fail, perhaps it is impossible for the instrument of contemplation to contemplate itself, perhaps if it is possible it means the end of imaginative literature — [...] anyhow—that way lies movement and even combustion for the novel, for if the novelist sees himself differently, he will see his characters differently and a new system of lighting will result.” - E.M. Forster

47. “Why must some of us deliberate between brands of toothpaste while others deliberate between damp dirt and bone dust to quiet the fire of an empty stomach lining?” - Barbara Kingsolver

48. “And so the bird was the end of the man, and the man was the beginning of the bird.” - Autumn Sanders

49. “في جنون البشر موقفان متطرفان فقط... اللحظة التي يدرك فيها المرء عجزه، واللحظة التي يدرك فيها ضعف الآخرين، فإما أن يتبنى جنونه أو أن يخضع له.” - ياسمينا خضرا

50. “Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worthwhile. So, when you are lonely remember it's true: somebody, somewhere is thinking of you.” - Atul Purohit

51. “Kenyataan terpahit dalam hidup adalah ketika melihat orang yang kita cintai terluka dan menangis karena kita. Dan kita tidak dapat melakukan apapun untuk mencegahnya.” - Irin Sintriana

52. “¡Dios bendiga los tiempos antiguos, en que existían cosas raras...!” - Knut Hamsun

53. “Our books are the deepest glimpses into our souls, the most raw and real anybody will ever find us.” - Melodie Ramone

54. “I am the happiest person on this world, who has never seen ups and downs in life. I got whatever I wished for… And I woke up!” - Rahul Rampal

55. “هل تتساءل أنت عن شكل وجهي؟ هل تراه في وجوه النساء؟ أنت لا تسألني شيئا.. كأنك تريد فقط أن تتحدث إلى شخص تعرف أنه يحب الاستماع إليك، ثم تطلب منه أن يدعو لك، كأنني متسولة تتصدق علي بكلماتك ثم قبل أن ترحل تطلب مني أن أدعو لك.” - لطيفة الحاج

56. “حتى أن الوهم بدأ يتضاءل، كان كبيرا في البداية واليوم صار ينكمش ويصغر، مع هذا لا أزال متمسكة به.” - لطيفة الحاج

57. “نحن حين نحب لا نتساءل على الأعمار، لا تشغلنا الظروف، لا تؤرقنا الحقائق، ولا تهمنا الصغائر.” - لطيفة الحاج

58. “العشاق لا يرون، لا يعون الأمور التي لا تتوافق مع ما يريدون الوصول إليه، لا يعترفون بأي شيء يثنيهم عن الوصول إلى هدفهم” - لطيفة الحاج

59. “Of course, that’s how life is. A turn of events may seem very small at the time it’s happening, but you never really know, do you? How can you?” - Tom Xavier

60. “Whatever is scaring you, bring it into the light. It's strength will fade” - Kerry Reichs

61. “God is at the helm even when you think your ship is sinking. Just keep trusting that the captain knows more about where you're heading than you do, and eventually you'll get where you need to be.” - Kevin Alan Milne

62. “«She had Google, and she had Wikipedia. She could look up anything obscure, any words or phrases that she didn’t understand. A romance novel was just a book, while the Internet was the Internet. The Internet would crack these nuts for sure.»” - Bruce Sterling

63. “If the US is a human melting pot, then Eastern Europe is a scrap yard.” - Péter Zilahy

64. “The Americans have perfected weather forecasts: a model presents a model of the Earth, a map, and jabs at it with her pointer – here and here, this is going to happen. Voodoo.” - Péter Zilahy

65. “هي- لماذا لا نستطيع تقليد الغرب في حبهم للحياة بهذه القوة؟هو -التخلف ولا شيء آخر . نحتاج إلى قرون أخرى لكي نرفع رؤوسنا قليلاً نحو الشمس” - واسيني الأعرج

66. “Mee and Ow sat in the shade of a mango tree and were doing their make-up. Both of them wore gloves that reached all the way up to their elbows, to keep the tropical sun off their skins. They looked briefly at Maier, with the curiosity usually reserved for a passing dog. It was too early for professional enthusiasm.” - Tom Vater

67. “Para el obispo, la vista de la guillotina fue un golpe terrible del cual tardó mucho tiempo en reponerse. En efecto: el patíbulo, cuando está ante nuestros ojos levantado, derecho, tiene algo que alucina. Se puede sentir cierta indiferencia hacia la pena de muerte, no pronunciarse ni en pro ni en contra, no decir ni sí ni que no mientras no se ha visto una guillotina; pero si se llega a ver una, la sacudida es violenta; es menester decidirse y tomar partido en pro o en contra de ella. Los unos admiran, como De Maistre; los otros execran, como Beccaria. La guillotina es la concreción de la ley: se llama 'vindicta'; no es indiferente ni os permite que lo seáis tampoco. Quien llega a verla se estremece con el más misterioso de los estremecimientos. Todas las cuestiones sociales alzan sus interrogantes en torno de aquella cuchilla. El cadalso es una visión: no es un tablado ni una máquina, ni un mecanismo frío de madera, de hierro y de cuerdas. Parece que es una especie de ser que tiene no sé qué sombría iniciativa. Se diría que aquellos andamios ven, que aquella madera, aquel hierro y aquellas cuerdas tienen voluntad. En la horrible meditación en que aquella vista sume al alma, el patíbulo aparece terrible y como teniendo conciencia de lo que hace. El patíbulo es el cómplice del verdugo; devora, come carne, bebe sangre. Es una especie de monstruo fabricado por el juez y por el carpintero; un espectro que parece vivir una especie de vida espantosa, hecha con todas las muertes que ha dado.” - Victor Hugo

68. “Ardo,aku tidak meminta banyak padamu, aku tidak akan meminta uangmu, tidak waktumu dan tidak nyawamu, aku hanya minta tetaplah menjadi seperti Ardo yg aku kenal, tidak hanya hari ini, tetapi juga esok dan seterusnya” - Rangga Wirianto Putra

69. “Sometimes a girl's gotta be bad to be good.Murder in the Dog Park” - Jill Yesko

70. “There is no right or wrong way to write a novel. Each journey is different for every individual work and for every writer. The first error is never to begin; the second is never to finish.” - Don Roff

71. “As writers we live life twice, like a cow that eats its food once and then regurgitates it to chew and digest it again. We have a second chance at biting into our experience and examining it. ...This is our life and it's not going to last forever. There isn't time to talk about someday writing that short story or poem or novel. Slow down now, touch what is around you, and out of care and compassion for each moment and detail, put pen to paper and begin to write.” - Natalie Goldberg

72. “Life is a great novel, discovering your calling is the far better sequel” - Carl Henegan

73. “Most times, my mind is just an ongoing, present-tense, first-person monologue. It's like I'm writing a novel.” - Andrew Shaffer

74. “We read novels because we need stories; we crave them; we can’t live without telling them and hearing them. Stories are how we make sense of our lives and of the world. When we’re distressed and go to therapy, our therapist’s job is to help us tell our story. Life doesn’t come with plots; it’s messy and chaotic; life is one damn, inexplicable thing after another. And we can’t have that. We insist on meaning. And so we tell stories so that our lives make sense.” - John Dufresne

75. “Everyone makes mistakes, but only a few could forgive. Padahal ada banyak kesalahan yang hanya perlu dimaafkan, bukan dihukum. An eye for an eye will make us all blind.” - Morra Quatro

76. “There is a brilliant novel in all of us. Some imagine it…others live it. Authors dwell in an auspicious life by having the ability to fuse the two.” - Carl Henegan

77. “From Flood, Flash, and Pheromones--coming soon:In the torrential downpour with water swirling that threatened to pull her down, she didn’t see the voice’s owner. The hurricane had blessed the entire city with a surprise drenching. All weather reports had predicted it to pass over with sporadic rainfall but that didn’t happen. The storm settled over Houston as if it had no intention to move on. Cassie flailed in panic as the roof of her car disappeared under the water twenty feet beyond. She prayed once more that the container in it was watertight. And that she’d see her car again. Then she concentrated on living. Where had the voice come from?” - Shelley K. Wall

78. “We’re novel worthy, day walking, blood sucking, tortured souls trapped in a body that can’t die for all eternity with no feelings, no emotions and no heart. - Elaine White, Runaway Girl” - Stavros and contributors

79. “I am a dash man and not a miler, and it is probable that I will never write a novel. So far the novels of this war have had too much of the strength, maturity and craftsmanship critics are looking for, and too little of the glorious imperfections which teeter and fall off the best minds. The men who have been in this war deserve some sort of trembling melody rendered without embarrassment or regret. I’ll watch for that book.” - J.D. Salinger