Everyone loves good literature. It's the rare gift of the best writers to give readers something they can walk away with—an epiphany, a new point of view, a resonating theme or idea and, hopefully, a love of words.

The true masters can make a long passage really stick with you. These are the sections of novels, plays, and poetry that we read over and over again and never grow tired of. But it’s another skill entirely to master the short quote—the line long enough for profound power and weight, but short enough to easily stick in the memory. These quotes say so much with so little.

Photo by Pavel P. (Flickr, Creative Commons).

“I hope, or I could not live.”—H.G. Wells, "The Island of Doctor Moreau"

“Yes, memory. Without that, time would be unarmed against us.”—John Steinbeck, "East of Eden"

Photo by Christian (Blavandmaster) (Flickr, Creative Commons).

“It’s less painful if I don’t care.”—Brett Easton Ellis, "Less Than Zero"

Photo by Philip Austin (Flickr, Creative Commons).

“To die would be an awfully big adventure.”—J.M. Barrie, "Peter Pan"

Photo by Vincent Desjardins (Flickr, Creative Commons).

“He who marches out of line hears another drum.”—Ken Kesey, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"

Photo by Mike (ceasedesist) (Flickr, Creative Commons).

Quote Images by Gigi Gastevich (made with photos from Creative Commons). Contact her here.

Contact Staff Reporter Ryan David McRee here.