Classic literature has been teaching humans life lessons for ages. Many people are fascinated by quotes they find on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc., but don't realize that if they picked up a book, a whole new world of life lessons and quotes exist. I am only 18 years old and I can confidently say that I have read more novels in my short lifetime than my entire household has in all of their lifetimes combined. There is so much beauty in classic literature that most people will never have the pleasure of discovering during their lifetime because a book with more than 100 pages scares them. I feel honored to have read novels by authors such as Harper Lee, Ernest Hemingway, William Shakespeare, and so many others I have not named.
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee taught us that giving up is not an option and even when the task seems nearly impossible, we do it anyway.
“’Why did you do all this for me?’ he asked. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.’ ‘You have been my friend,’ replied Charlotte. ‘That in itself is a tremendous thing.’” E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
E.B. White taught us that friendship has always been and will always be the most important thing in life.
“Anything worth dying for is certainly worth living for.” Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Joseph Heller taught us that life is a precious gift.
“And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned to a pillar of salt. So it goes. People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut taught us that it is important to always look forward and not to dwell on the past, but that we are human and we have flaws and we make mistakes.
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And then one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald taught us that it is important to have dreams and to strive to achieve them, and that love does exist.
I hope that while reading this article you have been persuaded to pick up a piece of classic literature and read it, and if not, I hope that the few sneak-peeks I gave you intrigued you enough to at least look up a few more of these amazing authors quotes from their books online.
