As a lover of the written word, my appetite for reading is something that must be quenched frequently. I've enjoyed reading everything from graphic novels to the classics, but one of my favorite things in the world is when I come across a line or a paragraph that compels me to pause and mull over the words for a while. Sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they make me cry, and sometimes they simply make me feel in a way that can't be explained but only experienced. The list of my favorite literary quotes is extensive, but here are fifteen that I feel are worth sharing.

1. This beautiful picture of Yu-81, a nameless inmate in a Soviet labor camp who displays dignity in the midst of being treated as less than human:

“With hunched-over lags all around, he was straight-backed as could be. He sat tall, as though he'd put something on the bench under him. . . . He was steadily eating his thin skilly, but instead of almost dipping his head in the bowl like the rest of them, he carried his battered wooden spoon up high.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

2. This awesome moment between Aslan, Edmond, and Lucy:

“‘It isn’t Narnia, you know,’ sobbed Lucy. ‘It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?’
‘But you shall meet me, dear one,’ said Aslan.
‘Are—are you there too, Sir?’ said Edmond.
‘I am,’ said Aslan. ‘But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.’”
-C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

3. This picture of Christ and redemption through His sacrifice and resurrection:

"'Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.'"
-C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

4. And this verse that perfectly goes along with the above quote...it gets me every time:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
-Romans 5:8, The Holy Bible

5. An excerpt from what is possibly the most romantic letter ever written (seriously, why don't people talk like this anymore?):

“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you.”
-Jane Austen, Persuasion

6. This beautiful picture of wartime camaraderie:

“At once a new warmth flows through me. These voices, these quiet words, these footsteps in the trench behind me recall me at a bound from the terrible loneliness and fear of death by which I had been almost destroyed. They are more to me than life, these voices, they are more than motherliness and more than fear; they are the strongest, most comforting thing there is anywhere: they are the voices of my comrades. I am no longer a shuddering speck of existence, alone in the darkness;--I belong to them and they to me; we all share the same fear and the same life, we are nearer than lovers, in a simpler, a harder way; I could bury my face in them, in these voices, these words that have saved me and will stand by me.”
-Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

7. The moment Anne first realizes Gil might be more than just her best friend, #anneandgilbertforlife:

“Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.”
-Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

8. And of course, the Bard needs to be represented:

“Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once.”
-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

9. These wise words from a wise wizard:

“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’”
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

10. Hadassah being a literary role model:

“Rather than remain a sealed jar, she sought only to pour herself out to others. Everything she did mirrored her faith. It was as though every waking hour of the day she was devoted to pleasing her God by serving others. This God that she worshiped consumed her. It didn't ask for a brief visit to a temple, or a small votive offering of food or coin, or a few prayers every now and then. This God wanted all of her.”
-Francine Rivers, A Voice in the Wind

11. And this romantic and tragic poem from my third favorite Scotsman (the others are David Tennant and Montgomery Scott, but that's beside the point):

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy:
But to see her was to love her;
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met-or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure!
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!
Ae fareweeli alas, for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
-Robert Burns, "Ae Fond Kiss"

12. This optimistic advice from a man who lost everything:

“Live and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget that, until the day comes when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these words: Wait and hope!”
-Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

13. More wise words from another wise wizard:

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
-J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

14. This eye-opening challenge from one of my favorite authors:

“The roles you identify with are not the true you, they are only the costume you wear for a short time...You look for your identity among costumes. These are not your true self, one with your true Father. Being his offspring, his love flows through you already. What love can you possibly need from the world if you are already full of his? None."
-Ted Dekker, Outlaw

15. And another from Ted Dekker, talking about the Great Romance with the only one who could truly satisfy our hearts:

“The point is, we were created to love beauty. We love beauty because Elyon loves beauty. We love song because Elyon loves song. We love love because Elyon loves love. And we love to be loved because Elyon loves to be loved. In all these ways we are like Elyon. In one way or another, everything we do is tied to this unfolding story of love between us and Elyon.”
-Ted Dekker, Black