Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, as hosted by the lovely people over at The Broke and the Bookish! Today’s topic is inspiring quotes from books. We all have quotes that we love from books, so whether they inspire you to write, challenge you, encourage you, makes you think, and more. So here are my top ten quotes that inspire me one way or another:

1. “We were both silent for a minute. And I wondered for the first time whether ‘feeling feminine’ just meant feeling good in your own skin.” -“None of the Above” by I.W. Gregorio. This quote just strikes a kind of happy nerve with me because I often am not sure how I feel in my own skin, but this one, about “being feminine,” as a woman it just makes me feel good to know that I should be happy in my own skin. And I’m working on it.

2. “‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,’ said Jogen. “The man who never reads only lives once.'” – “A Dance with Dragons” by George R.R. Martin. As an avid reader and lover of books, this quote is very resonant within me right now, and frankly, always has been. I love reading and the fact that I get to travel to new worlds, time periods, and meet and fall in love or hate characters, is truly mind boggling to me. (No, I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s on my shelf waiting to be read.)

3. “‘I am in love with you,’ he said quietly.

‘Augustus,’ I said.

‘I am,’ he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. ‘I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.'” – “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. This quote inspires me because it makes me think: what if someone loved another so much that they proclaimed it this way? What if there was such an undying love for another that it makes them just say everything they believe and that they know they love a person? Really, this quote just makes me warm and fuzzy inside, but it also inspires me in terms of how I want the romances I write to be seen: large and wonderful and dynamic.

4. “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friend. In the end it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy… this book… is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.” – “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King. This book is on my TBR for this month, and though I haven’t read it yet, when I saw this quote it just brought something to life within me. Writing is magic. It’s beautiful and freeing and all encompassing. It’s a glorious gift to be able to write, and to write well. But it’s also something that we can’t take for granted.

5. “Bravery hides in amazing places.” – “The One” by Kiera Cass. This quote is just true: sometimes the bravest acts are from the ones you least expect it from, and in the most trying of circumstances.

6. “‘Guards are of no use in a library.’

Oh, how wrong he was! Libraries are full of ideas – perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.” – “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J Maas. Books are some of the most dangerous weapons of all – use them wisely.

7. “What people never understand is that depression isn’t what’s on the outside; it’s about the inside.” – “My Heart and Other Black Holes” by Jasmine Warga. This quote rings so true to me that I’d shout it from rooftops if I could. Just because an outward expression of happiness or joy is being used in that current moment, doesn’t mean that the person isn’t dealing with something more dangerous and chaotic on the inside.

8. “‘I see only reminders that nothing lasts forever, not even greatness.’

‘Some things last.’

I faced him. ‘Really? And just what would that be?’

‘The things that matter.'” – “The Kiss of Deception” by Mary E. Pearson. It’s so very true: the things that matter are the things that last forever: family and love are two of the biggest things I can think of personally.

That’s all I could think of for this week, but that’s a pretty decent amount, right? Some quotes that have inspired, hit me hard, made me smile, and all that.

What’s your number one quote that you’ve been inspired/encouraged by? Let me know!