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Whenever I create my own bookmarks, I always like to inscribe a quote on one of the flaps.
Since it’s something that follows me while I read, I like to take that literally.
And nothing feels more literal than a powerful quote from a book or a famous author.
If you’re into that too, whether you’re making your own bookmarks, placing a custom order, or simply looking for a short quote to keep close, then this list is for you.
I’ve compiled some amazing, thought-provoking, and straight-to-the-point short quotes that really pack a punch.
Some of them made me stop and take a breath because they connected so deeply with where I was in life at that moment.
And I hope sharing these words with you will make them beautiful companions in your journey too.
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” ― Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
“So it goes.” ― Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
“We accept the love we think we deserve.” ― The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
“Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.” ― The Color Purple by Alice Walker
“Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up.” ― Divergent by Veronica Roth
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.” ― Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” ― The Help by Kathryn Stockett
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” ― On Writing by Stephen King
“The world was hers for the reading.” ― Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” ― Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ― The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
“To the stars who listen – and the dreams that are answered.” ― A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.” ― The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” ― The Tempest by William Shakespeare
“Better never means better for everyone.” ― The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.” ― The Road by Cormac McCarthy
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ― Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
“Hope is the thing with feathers.” ― Collected Poems by Emily Dickinson
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us.” ― Stephen King
“She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” ― A Girl I Knew by J.D. Salinger
“I would always rather be happy than dignified.” ― Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
“Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” ― The Addams Family by Charles Addams
“When you can’t find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.” ― Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
“Sometimes I can feel my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I’m not living.” ― Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
“After all, tomorrow is another day.” ― Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
“You can’t live your life for other people.” ― The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
“She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.” ― The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” ― To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” ― What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
“If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.” ― Looking for Alaska by John Green
“There’s some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” ― The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Live your life. Forget age.” ― The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” ― Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” ― Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.” ― A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” ― Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” ― Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner
“Life is to be lived, not controlled.” ― Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” ― The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle.” ― E.E. Cummings
I can’t speak for everyone, but one thing that often happens to me while reading is that I’ll be completely immersed and then suddenly, I have to pause because a line hits me so perfectly.
It just gets me right where I am in life at that moment.
If you’ve ever had that kind of experience, let me know: what quote have you read that absolutely hit the spot?
And if you’ve ever made your own bookmarks or come across short book quotes that you think others would enjoy, drop them in the comments – I’d love to see them
