a searchable collection of epigraphs from books great and small
If you look after goodness and truth, beauty will take care of itself.
Eric Gill. Epigraph from Heaven is Here by Stephanie Neilson
All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command: emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces;
But his dominion that exceeds in this,
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man;
A sound magician is a mighty god.
Shall be at my command: emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces;
But his dominion that exceeds in this,
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man;
A sound magician is a mighty god.
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Epigraph from The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
The breaking of so great a thing should make a greater crack.
William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra. Epigraph from Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
Passive resisters must understand that they are as important as saboteurs.
SOE Secret Operations Manual, “Methods of Passive Resistance.” Epigraph from Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Who can stop the tears?
Robert Nesta Marley. Epigraph from Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Being human totally sucks most of the time. Videogames are the only thing that make life bearable.
Anorak’s Almanac, Chapter 91, Verses 1-2. Epigraph from Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My poor heart is sentimental
Not made of wood
I got it bad and that ain’t good.
Not made of wood
I got it bad and that ain’t good.
Duke Ellington, 1941. Epigraph from Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
There are some things you learn best in calm, some in storm.
Willa Cather. Epigraph from Home Front by Kristin Hannah
I like to play indoors better ‘cause that’s where all the electrical outlets are.
A fourth-grader in San Diego. Epigraph from The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
There was a child who went forth every day,
And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became,
And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day,
Or for many years or stretching cycles of years.
The early lilacs became part of this child,
And grass and red and white morning glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,
And the Third-month lambs and the sow’s pink-faint litter, and the mare’s foal, and the cow’s calf,….
And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became,
And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day,
Or for many years or stretching cycles of years.
The early lilacs became part of this child,
And grass and red and white morning glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,
And the Third-month lambs and the sow’s pink-faint litter, and the mare’s foal, and the cow’s calf,….
Walt Whitman. Epigraph from The Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
