England; upper classes in the 1800s; Female Author – A good book to start reading Austen.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” 

Russia; 1800s; Male Author – Translation

“I think … if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.”

Verona, Italy; Late 1500s (?); Male Author – One of Shakespeares popular plays.

England; Late 1800s; Male Author – If reading Hardy for the first time, this is a good novel to start with.

“A strong woman who recklessly throws away her strength, she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away.” 

USA; Dystopian Future; Female Aut hor

“Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.” 

“But people will do anything rather than admit that their lives have no meaning. No use, that is. No plot.” 

England; Dystopian Future; Male Author – A must read for the current political situations.

USA; 1920s Jazz Age; Male Author

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

England; 1800s; Male Author – A good one to start with if choosing your first Dickens to read.

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.” 

“Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” 

USA; Civil War; Female Author

A must read civil rights classic set in the US.