Some classic book quotes feel like a whole afternoon in a sentence. Anne Shirley is delighted by October. Amy March would like her coffee. A child turns the stairs into a ship, and a garden becomes a world of its own.
This collection brings together 16 short passages from five books. You will find the same lines featured in Happyologie's chrysanthemum-and-aster quote art, with the author and book beside each one. A quote can be lovely on its own, and the surrounding story gives it another life.
Read through for a favorite, copy a credited line into your reading journal, or choose the book you want to open next. The quotations keep their original words, including a few older turns of phrase.
Classic book quotes from Anne of Green Gables
L. M. Montgomery gives Anne plenty to say about things she loves. The first six lines come from Anne of Green Gables. For the full passages, read Montgomery's original Anne of Green Gables text. The book is also a good place to stay awhile if you enjoy a character who has a name for almost everything.
1. A world with Octobers
I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Anne makes room for the pleasure of a season in one short line. It is a fitting autumn journal quote, especially beside a pressed leaf, a photo from a walk, or the name of the place where you watched the trees change.
2. Finding things to enjoy
It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
This is a character's view of life, rather than a promise about every day. Anne's pleasure in things is part of her voice. You might put the quote beside a list of things you enjoyed this week: a warm drink, a good conversation, a song you played twice. Let the list keep its small details. They are often the part you will want to remember later.
3. So many things to like
Isn’t it splendid there are so many things to like in this world?
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
The question leaves the list open. Books can sit beside flower names, a favorite lunch, and a place you like to visit. It is a good line for a reading-journal page that has room for more than ratings and reading goals. If you want a new title for that list, browse our ideas for finding books to add to your reading list.
4. Pretty nearly perfectly happy
But just now I feel pretty nearly perfectly happy.
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
The phrase "just now" gives this quote its charm. It belongs to one moment. You can enjoy it beside a photo of a picnic, a page about a visit with friends, or a note about a day you would like to keep. The words do not need to describe your whole life to suit one good afternoon. A reading journal can hold those moments along with the books.
5. The different Annes
There’s such a lot of different Annes in me.
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Anne's line is fun to pair with a collection of interests. You may have a mystery-book shelf, a half-finished craft, a favorite sport, and strong views about which pen writes best. A journal spread can hold all of them. The quote also makes a lovely note beside a character sketch: which sides of Anne appear in the chapter you have just read, and which one made you laugh?
6. Delightful ambitions
Oh, it’s delightful to have ambitions.
L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
There is pleasure in looking forward to something. This line can sit beside a reading wish list, a plan for a small project, or a list of places you want to see. Keep a few things on that page for the joy of trying them. Reading a long book, learning a song, and finishing a little drawing can share the same page without turning into a contest.
Two lines from Jane Austen's Emma
Jane Austen's Emma has room for both warm feeling and sharp observations about people. These two excerpts come from the novel. You can read the wider conversations in Austen's complete text of Emma, where a sentence has a speaker, a setting, and often another character ready to answer.
7. Tenderness of heart
There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart
Jane Austen, Emma
This line gives a friendship card a gentle starting point. Add your own sentence about the person receiving it: the meal they brought over, the lift they offered, or the way they remembered something you said. A specific memory makes the note yours.
8. Different pleasures
One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.
Jane Austen, Emma
One friend loves a busy concert. Another is delighted by a library trip and a long lunch. The line is a neat fit for a page about the different things people enjoy. You could use it in a book-club journal beside everyone's favorite scene. The answers may be as different as the snacks each person brought, which gives the conversation somewhere interesting to go.
Coffee and plans from Little Women
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women follows the March sisters and their changing plans. These short excerpts offer a taste of the book's talk and energy. Read them in place in Alcott's original Little Women text if you want to see what comes before and after each line.
9. Coffee first
I’d rather take coffee than compliments just now.
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
A coffee note can be short and still have a voice. This one is an especially good match for a reading break, a cafe journal page, or a card tucked beside a friend's usual drink. If you copy the line onto a page with coffee stains, those may become part of the record too. A favorite quote does not require perfect stationery to be worth keeping.
10. Writing books
I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
This excerpt has the sweep of a grand plan. Put it at the front of a writing notebook if it makes you smile, then fill the pages with whatever you are writing now. A scene, a poem, a letter, and a story opening all count as things a notebook can hold. The quote brings its own enthusiasm. Your first page can begin wherever your idea begins.
11. A bold little line
I’m not afraid of anything
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
Read a bold line with the curiosity you bring to a character. What is happening around the speaker? How do the people nearby respond? A brief quote can send you back to a scene you want to understand. It can also be a lively heading for notes about a character who speaks with more certainty than the rest of the room.
A quiet place in The Secret Garden
12. Behind the garden walls
It seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place.
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Burnett's sentence gives a place a feeling as well as a shape. It suits a garden journal, a page about a park visit, or a reading note about settings you wish you could step into. You can borrow that idea for your own notes without borrowing the words: name one sound, one plant, and one small detail from a place you visited. For an indoor reading spot, try our ideas for making a warm and comfortable reading corner.
Four playful excerpts from A Child's Garden of Verses
Robert Louis Stevenson's poems turn ordinary places into spaces for looking, playing, and imagining. The following excerpts come from A Child's Garden of Verses. Read the complete poems in Stevenson's original collection of childhood verses to hear the lines around them and the rhythm of each poem.
13. The garden next door
I saw the next door garden lie, Adorned with flowers, before my eye,
Robert Louis Stevenson, "Foreign Lands," A Child's Garden of Verses
This excerpt is full of looking. A garden nearby can become the subject of a whole page when you slow down enough to name what is there. You might pair the line with a flower sketch or write down the colors you could see from a window.
14. Places still to see
And many pleasant places more That I had never seen before.
Robert Louis Stevenson, "Foreign Lands," A Child's Garden of Verses
The same poem has room for the places beyond the first view. This excerpt works beside a small wish list of outings: a garden across town, a new walking route, or a library branch you have passed many times. The places can be nearby. A page about looking forward to a Saturday trip is a fine place for a little curiosity.
15. A ship upon the stairs
We built a ship upon the stairs All made of the back-bedroom chairs,
Robert Louis Stevenson, "A Good Play," A Child's Garden of Verses
The picture arrives quickly: chairs become a ship through play. It is a charming excerpt for a scrapbook page about childhood games or a note about a story you made up with friends. If you are gathering reading ideas for a group, our guide to hosting a bring-your-own-book night with friends gives everyone room to bring a different book and a favorite passage.
16. Up in a swing
How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue?
Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Swing," A Child's Garden of Verses
The question has movement in it. Read the poem aloud and notice how the words carry the ride. It is a cheerful last line for this collection, and a fitting one to keep beside a page about a day outdoors. The full poem gives you more of the view, so let this short excerpt be an invitation to read on.
The books behind the quotes
Page numbers vary between editions, while a chapter or poem title can help you find a passage again.
All five works in this collection are older English-language books. The quoted words come from the books, rather than a modern film or television script. For a new reading habit, begin with a passage you enjoyed and follow it into the surrounding pages. Our ideas for enjoying reading again at your own pace can help you make room for the next chapter.
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