The best literature is timeless, appealing to all ages no matter its originally intended audience. The following books may have been written with young adults in mind, but the pieces of wisdom they offer speak to us all, regardless of age. Here are fifteen quotes from young adult novels that we should all strive to live by, no matter what stage of life we’re in.
1. “The sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”
~ The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Source: Pixabay
2. “Life, with its rules, its obligations, and its freedoms, is like a sonnet: you’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself.”
~ A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Source: Udemy
3. “The greatest ideas are the simplest.”
~ Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Source: Social Media Today
4. “If you cross a line and nothing happens, the line loses meaning. It’s like that old riddle about a tree falling in a forest, and whether it makes a sound if there’s no one around to hear it. You keep drawing a line farther and farther away, crossing it every time. That’s how people end up stepping off the edge of the earth. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to bust out of orbit, to spin out to a place where no one can touch you.”
~ Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Source: I Am Security
5. “The sky is always beautiful. Even when it’s dark or rainy or cloudy, it’s still beautiful to look at. It’ll be there no matter what, and I know it’ll always be beautiful.”
~ Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Source: Pexels
6. “Grace is my favorite church word. A state of being. Something you can pray for. Something God can grant. Something you can obtain. Perfection is out of reach.”
~ Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Source: Personal Tao
7. “There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.”
~ The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Source: Michael D. Warren
8. “Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”
~ Divergent by Veronica Roth
9. “I wanted to be one of those people who have streaks to maintain, who scorch the ground with their intensity. But for now, at least I knew such people, and they needed me, just like comets need tails.”
~ Looking for Alaska by John Green
Source: Phys
10. “I believe in one day and someday and this perfect moment called now.”
~ Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Source: Advaita Vision
11. “Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them— if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.”
~ The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Source: Decal Girl
12. “People make mistakes all the time. Small ones, like you get in the wrong checkout line. The one with the lady with a hundred coupons and a checkbook. Sometimes you make medium-sized ones. You go to medical school instead of pursuing your passion. Sometimes you make big ones. You give up.”
~ The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Source: Tiny Buddha
13. “There are things you can’t back down on, things you gotta take a stand on. But it’s up to you to decide what them thngs are. You have to demand respect in this world, ain’t nobody just gonna hand it to you. How you carry yourself, what you stand for— that’s how you gain respect. But, little one, ain’t nobody’s respect worth more than your own.”
~ Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Source: The Faces Beyond My Reflection
14. “That’s the duty of the old,” said the librarian, “to be anxious on the behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.” They sat for a while longer, and then parted, for it was late, and they were old and anxious.”
~ The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Source: British Red Cross
15. “It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
~ Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Source: The Dancing Rest
What’s your favorite ageless quote?
YouTube Channel: MsMojo
Featured image via Book Club Wikia
h/t Reader’s Digest
