69 of the most beautiful passages in literature

Beauty in literature is subjective. Yet, there are certain passages in the books we read that strike us with their power or inspire us to reflect on who we are and what our place in this world is. These beautiful literary quotes span the world of literature. They are excerpts from novels, poems, essays, speeches, and plays.

Some of them might be familiar to you; others will probably serve as an introduction to some works you’ve never heard of before. Maybe these words have even changed your life. Let’s see how many good books you’ll decide to read after browsing through these 50 most beautiful passages in literature…

1. “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” — E.A. Poe

2. “I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;

2.1 I am the King’s jester, and I should like to live for ever.” — S. Beckett

3. “I was saying that all experience is an arch wherethro’ Gleams that untravel’d world whose margin fades For ever and for ever when I move.” — U. Arnold

4. “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,

Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all!” — T.S. Eliot

5. “For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” — J. Whittier

6. “And when at last I sat down to write,

A novel — oh, what a novel it would be!” — D.H. Lawrence

7. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me:

2.1 I am a free human being with an independent will.” — Charlotte Bronte

7.1 “And the very instant that I came to this conclusion, that same instant the light broke upon my brain, and the truth — the fact — rushed home upon me!” — Charlotte Bronte

8. “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” — W. Shakespeare

8.1 “Nothing is real but dreams and love… Love more than anything else in all the world.” — O’Neill

9. “The sky above the port was the color of lead,

2.1 The Black wall at its base was like a mighty fortress.” — Conrad

9.1 “The past is like another planet.” — Conrad

10. “That in the very torrent, tempest, and (2) fury of her passion, she should retain the utmost tranquillity of precision in every syllable that passed her lips — “ — W. Austen

10.1 “I cannot fix on the hour,

2.1 or the spot, or the look, or the words which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” — Austen

11. “You know how to whistle don’t you? Just put your lips together and blow.” — Humphery Bogart

11.1 “Here’s looking at you, kid.” — Bogart

12. “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” — Mark Twain

13. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” — A. Borges

14. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” — Keats

15. “…the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

16. “In the World through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself.” — Frantz Fanon

17. “What in life is not what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

18. “There are no second acts in American lives.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

19. “…believe that life is a joy, and that to be alive is a great good in itself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. “To be great is to be misunderstood.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

21. “I am the author of my own destiny.” — Marcus Garvey

22. “You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” — Ronald Reagan

23. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

24. “…the only way to do something well is to like it.” — Aldous Huxley

25. “A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.” — Jonathan Swift

26. “All say: ‘How hard it is that we have to die’ — a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.” — Montaigne

27. “The world at large remains plunged in profound illusion and ignorance; only he who has struggled with himself knows anything about life, and can sing its lofty praise.” — Goethe

28. “…I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.” — D. Milosz

29. “…there is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow their inner world to be creative.” — H. Thurman

30. “The most important thing is to enjoy your life — to be happy — it’s all that matters.” — Dalai Lama

31. “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

32. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

33. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin

34. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

35. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” — Zig Ziglar

36. “…the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would come his way.” — W. Churchill

37. “…life is what we make it, and how we make it — whether we realize it or not. The choices we make, the attitudes we carry, the love we give — all of this creates the life that surrounds us.” — Byron Katie

38. “…the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

39. “Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs

40. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” — Albert Einstein

41. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde

42. “The most important thing is to enjoy your life — to be happy — it’s all that matters.” — Dalai Lama

43. “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.” — George Bernard Shaw

44. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

45. “Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery; today is God’s gift — that’s why we call it ‘the present’.” — Bill Keane

46. “It does not so much matter where one settles down as how one lives.” — Albert Einstein

47. “…if you can’t find something worth dying for, you aren’t fit to live.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

48. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

49. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs

50. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greene

51. “What matters most is how well we walk through the fire” — Charles Bukowski

52. “There are too many of us who happily undermine our lives and sometimes others as well, not out of malice or stupidity but simply because we do not know any better.” — David Foster Wallace

53. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” -Zig Ziglar

54. “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

55. “…the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

56. “You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline- it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.” –Frank Zappa

57. “…life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” — Charles Schultz

58. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs

59. “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” — Christopher McCandless

60. “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” — Andre Gide

61. “Maybe it’s true that you can’t appreciate heaven until you’ve been through hell, but I wouldn’t know because I haven’t been to hell.” — Dante Alighieri

62. “I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home…. I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.” — Nancie J. Carmody

63. “One day you’ll be just a memory for some people. Do your best to live a life they’ll be glad to remember.” — Unknown

64. “…what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

65. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs

66. “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” — Unknown

67. “…every morning we are born again. What we do today matters most.” –Unknown

68. “When you stand up to be counted

Tell the world this is my voice” -Shane Koyczan

69. “So be a mirror reflecting yourself back, and remembering the times when you thought all of this was too hard and that you’d never make it through. Remember the times you could have pressed quit, but you hit continue instead.” -Shane Koyczan

Conclusion

If you found this information useful, we encourage you to follow us on Medium, subscribe to our email list, or consider setting up a Medium membership through our referral link — a percentage of your membership will go to supporting this publication! By supporting us in these ways, you can help us continue to create valuable content and resources for writers and content creators. Thank you!