Favourite Quotes

I find the topic of favourite quotes a fascinating one. In every reader sphere there’s always discussion of quotes but, what makes a favourite quote? To me they’re not only the poetic ones with beautiful words—although many that fall under this category are some of my favourites—but rather the ones that resonate with me personally.

Additionally, I don’t necessarily have favourite quotes from all my all-time favourite books—I love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo dearly, but despite it having some beautiful quotes, they don’t fall under my favourites category. In the same vein, some of my favourite quotes are from books that I don’t consider my favourites.

I must also say that I’m quite forgetful and learning many quotes by heart is not on my skill set. Because of this, only the ones that truly impact me stay with me. However, not all the quotes I like must be extremely deep and meaningful. I actually am a fan of funny quotes.

All this to say that I want to share a few of my favourite quotes—which I will break down into categories for my own piece of mind. And finally, I will present you my holy trinity of quotes (can you tell I’m dramatic?)

Funny quotes

Sebastian is trying to prove he isn’t lame but failing to find examples to support his theory.

—Running with Lions, by Julian Winters

I, for some reason, found this very funny and relatable when reading this, and I still do. This book has some great comedic—and often sarcastic—moments.

“We’re not courting trouble,” I say. “Flirting with it, at most.”

—The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzie Lee

Mackenzie Lee’s comedic voice shines through with Monty, and this book is filled with iconic funny quotes. I’ve said it many times, but this novel had me laughing from the very first chapter.

“The top list of reasons to love you goes brain, then dick, then imminent status as a revolutionary gay icon.”
“You are quite literally Queen Victoria’s worst nightmare.”

—Red, White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston

It was hard to pick just one considering I have this book tabbed to death, and most of those tabs are for funny quotes. Casey McQuiston’s dialogue is always highly entertaining, they truly know how to make me laugh.

Poetic quotes

Adam lived in an apartment located above the office of St. Agnes Catholic Church, a fortuitous combination that focused most of the objects of Ronan’s worship into one downtown block.

—The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater

I actually could add so many Maggie Stiefvater quotes here. Her writing style is completely captivating, and she delivers so much emotion with every other line that she makes up for a good portion of my favourite writing.

I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.

—The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

In the same way, I could add all of The Song of Achilles here. Madeline Miller’s writing style blew me away when I first read this, so it is no surprise that this has remained on the top of my favourite novels and many beautiful quotes have stayed in my mind.

I would have come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.

—Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo

What is a quotes list without this one? I constantly see this quoted everywhere—which is understandable considering how insanely popular this duology is and the significance of this moment in the story.

“You were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs.”
“I’m not a hallucination,” Neil said, nonplussed.
“You are a pipe dream,” Andrew said.

—The Raven King, by Nora Sakavic

I didn’t know where to put this but regardless of that, this is perhaps an unpopular choice? I unapologetically adore this trilogy (maybe I’ll write about its impact on me some day) despite its many flaws and rightfully recieved criticism, and many of its quotes made it into my favourites.

Holy trinity

For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me.

—If We Were Villains, by M.L. Rio

This was why Jac was never the smooth talker—he didn’t open up; he unraveled.

—King of Fools, by Amanda Foody

It wasn’t that Henry was less of himself in English. He was less of himself out loud. His native language was thought.

—The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater

Well, showing these three quotes as my top favourite ones feels somewhat personal considering they very obviously reflect my own relationship with my ability to express myself. But then again, I feel like it’s only natural that sometimes we all struggle with putting our thoughts and emotions into words. If I had to I wouldn’t be able to choose just one of them, because all three depict a different experience, and all of them made me stop reading to absorb them.

What are some of your favourite quotes? Please do leave them down below, I always love reading new pieces of writing I might not have read before!