Whether they're from new novels or tried-and-true classics, great passages jump out as if they're speaking directly to the reader. Take a look at the lines that have stuck with these Oprah.com readers, then tell us which favorite book quotes you've underlined.
"A tender heart and a brave soul light up the path for others with the kind of luminosity that heals and enlivens. So don't worry about being good. Instead, discover how both good and bad live within you. Deeply accept the shadows even as you seek the light. Believe in change. Take full responsibility for who you are and what you want. And from such forthright wisdom, your goodness will prevail and your kindness will blossom and your heart will be healed." —
Elizabeth Lesser, The Seeker's Guide
As quoted by Nancy from Highland Park, Illinois
"Mongrels make good dogs." —
Wally Lamb, I Know This Much Is True
As quoted by Billie from Tire Hill, Pennsylvania
"Not every flu is pneumonia. There are lots of big and small problems in life and very few real disasters. The turnaround is a vital job, but it is only a job. Your health and your spouse and children are far more important. Never sacrifice your health, spouse and children. Remember that, and you will survive as a human being no matter what occurs during a turnaround." — Peter McCann, Turnarounds: Brains, Guts & Stamina
As quoted by Virginia, Toronto, Canada
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." —
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture 
As quoted by Allirani, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
"Do not insist that the universe comply with your understanding of it." —
Gary Zukav, The Seat of the Soul
As quoted by Brenda, Winnipeg, Canada
"A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires." — Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain
As quoted by Maria from Taby, Sweden
"Do not let yourself be bothered with the inconsequential. One only has so much time in this world, so devote it to the work and the people most important to you, to those you love and things that matter. One can waste half a lifetime with people one doesn't really like or doing things when one would be better off somewhere else." — Louis L'amour, Ride the River
As quoted by Laura from Anchorage, Alaska
"So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone." — Roald Dahl, Matilda
As quoted by Carla from Phillipston, Massachusetts
"Grief is a most peculiar thing; we're so helpless in the face of it. It's like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less; and one day we wonder what has become of it." — Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha
As quoted by Linda from Newaygo, Michigan
"For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet
As quoted by Anne from Buckner, Missouri
"It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." — Atoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
As quoted by Patti from Sunnyside, New York
"You're going to pass something down no matter what you do or if you do nothing. Even if you let yourself go fallow, the weeds will grow and the brambles. Something will grow." — John Steinbeck,
East of Eden
As quoted by Nancy from Mount Holly, North Carolina
"Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest of human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky." — Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
As quoted by Grace from Athens, Greece
"He thought that in the beauty of the world were hid a secret. He thought the world's heart beat at some terrible cost and that the world's pain and its beauty moved in a relationship of diverging equity and that in this headlong deficit the blood of multitudes might ultimately be exacted for the vision of a single flower." — Cormac McCarthy,
All the Pretty Horses
As quoted by Alice from Bluffton, Ohio
"Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists." — Eckhart Tolle,
A New Earth
As quoted by Kristi from Modesto, California
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" —
Marianne Williamson, A Return to LoveAs quoted by Brenda from Griffith, Indiana
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer." — Zora Neale Hurston,
Their Eyes Were Watching GodAs quoted by Patricia from Mount Holly, North Carolina
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." —
J.K. Rowling,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
As quoted by Catherine from Fairfield, Iowa
"The treasures of the earth were movement, courage, laughter and love." — Mark Helprin, Winter's Tale
As quoted by Cyndie from Brookfield, Wisconsin
"But lifting a person's heart—now that matters. The whole problem with people is...they know what matters, but they don't choose it. ... The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." — Sue Monk Kidd,
The Secret Life of Bees
As quoted by Bridget from Katonah, New York
"If anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again." — William P. Young,
The Shack
As quoted by Kelli from Grand Junction, Colorado
What favorite quotes have you underlined?
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