Famous Lines in Literature?

Question

What are some of the most famous lines in the history of Western literature?
(Like "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," etc.)

Thanks

Answer 1

There are lots of great ones out there ... here are a few that come to mind:
"Frankly my dear I don't give a damn." from Gone With the Wind

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair" Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities

"To be or not to be, that is the question—" from Shakespeare's Hamlet

"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest -- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet." from Romeo and Juliet

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." -- John Donne

Answer 2

Unfortunately many do not receive a "classical education" any more. Therefore the quotes I have selected come from the heros of the common man, those who do not have the funds to afford that aforementioned "classical education".

I am partial to Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain). Here are some of his quotes.

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
-Mark Twain

"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody."
-Mark Twain

"Let us endeavor to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."
-Mark Twain

"It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not to deserve them."
-Mark Twain

"Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to."
-Mark Twain

"Few things are harder to put up with than a good example."
-Mark Twain

"It is not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that make horseraces."
-Mark Twain

Will Rogers is also a favorite of mine. Here are a few of his quotes.

"Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House? "
- Will Rogers

"On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does."
- Will Rogers

"An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."
- Will Rogers

Answer 3

Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Tennyson's Ulysses

therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.


WB Yeats

Answer 4

"All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others. "

George Orwell/ Animal Farm

Answer 5

"Call me Ishmille". The first line of moby dick. "To be or not to be". The bard also.

Answer 6

"Et tu Brute?"
-The Bard