Whether you’re a lover of books, a connoisseur of movies, or just an average person who has read a few books or seen a few movies in your life, there’s a good chance that you’ve stumbled across a quote that you haven’t been able to forget. It may not have been inspirational or radically life-changing. Maybe you loved it because it made you laugh or it was just the kind of thing you would say — and you probably considered making it your senior quote in high school.
Inspired by finally finishing every book by one of my favorite authors, I set out on a mission to find out which quotes stuck with our Her Campus members. Regardless of if you’re using this list to find a new book or movie to enjoy, you just needed a pick-me-up in your day, or you’re looking for the perfect quote to have framed for your walls, we’ve got you covered.
The Inspirational:
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
“You are going to live a good and long life full of great and terrible moments that you cannot even imagine yet.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
“People did change, and a change could be a bloom as well as a withering.” – Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road
The Life-Changing:
“I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly and then all at once.” – John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
“That’s always seemed so ridiculous to me, that people would want to be around someone because they’re pretty. It’s like picking your breakfast cereals based on color instead of taste.” – John Green, Paper Towns
“It’s a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares anymore; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little God damn mediocrity.” – Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road
“I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.” – Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
“She didn’t know what would happen next—what was supposed happen next—but it would be random, unpredictable, and uncomfortable… but it wasn’t a bad thing; it was just a different thing. She hesitated, willing to concede that you might have to lose control before you could find what you’d been missing.” – Jodi Picoult, Nineteen Minutes
The Funny and Witty:
“What’s in the bag, a shark or something?” – The Wicker Man (2006)
“Son of a gun, I’m sick of these dolphins!” – The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
“Jules could probably announce she was the love child of President Obama and a cat and they wouldn’t look up from their Calculus textbooks.” – Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, Between the Lines
“Can you believe our luck? Of all the trees we could’ve hit, we had to get one that hits back.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
“‘Why were you lurking under our window?’‘Yes – yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our windows, boy?’‘Listening to the news,’ said Harry in a resigned voice.His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.‘Listening to the news! Again?’‘Well, it changes every day, you see,’ said Harry.”
– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The evidence is indisputable— our members have the best taste in quotable books and movies around!