Every quote here is traced to a specific book or essay. Several lines that circulate online under her name have no clear source, so they are left out.

Who Zora Neale Hurston was

Hurston grew up in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first incorporated all-Black towns in the United States. She studied anthropology at Barnard College and collected African American and Caribbean folklore across the South, Jamaica and Haiti.

She published four novels, two books of folklore, an autobiography and many essays and stories. She died in poverty in 1960, largely forgotten. Alice Walker’s 1975 essay “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston” helped bring her work back into print and into classrooms.

Quotes from Their Eyes Were Watching God

The novel follows Janie Crawford through three marriages as she looks for a life and a love of her own. It is Hurston’s best-known book and the one most often assigned in school.

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” — the novel’s opening line.

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”

“An envious heart makes a treacherous ear.”

“Some people could look at a mud puddle and see an ocean with ships.”

“They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” — the line that gives the novel its title, from the hurricane chapter.

The opening lines set up the book’s contrast between men, who watch their dreams from a distance, and women, who act on what they choose to remember. If you are writing about Janie’s growth, those first two paragraphs are worth quoting.

Quotes on identity and self-respect

These come from “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” a short essay Hurston published in 1928. It is often taught alongside the novel because it shows her refusing to be defined by other people’s pity.

“I am not tragically colored.”

“I do not weep at the world—I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.”

“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company?”

“I belong to no race nor time.”

The oyster knife line plays on the old saying “the world is your oyster.” Just before it, Hurston writes that she has seen “the world is to the strong.” It is her way of saying she is too busy getting on with life to mourn it.

Quotes on learning and curiosity

Hurston was trained as an anthropologist under Franz Boas, and her writing about research is some of her most quoted by teachers.

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” — Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942.

“Once you wake up thought in a man, you can never put it to sleep again.” — Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939.

“Learning without wisdom is a load of books on a donkey’s back.” — Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939.

The research line works well on a science classroom wall or at the top of a research project handout. For more lines in this vein, see our quotes about curiosity and learning.

Quotes on ambition and hardship

These come from Dust Tracks on a Road, Hurston’s 1942 autobiography, and from her 1934 novel Jonah’s Gourd Vine.

Hurston writes that her mother urged her children at every opportunity to “jump at de sun.” Her explanation follows: “We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.” — Dust Tracks on a Road.

“I want a busy life, a just mind, and a timely death.” — Dust Tracks on a Road.

“I have been in Sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots.” — Jonah’s Gourd Vine. The line continues with an image of standing on a mountain “wrapped in rainbows,” so it is about having known both the worst and the best.

Quotes on love

“Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” — Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie says this to her friend Pheoby near the end of the novel.

“Love, I find is like singing. Everybody can do enough to satisfy themselves, though it may not impress the neighbors as being very much.” — Dust Tracks on a Road.

A note on misattributed Hurston quotes

Some popular lines credited to Hurston online don’t appear in any of her published works that we could verify. If a quote shows up only on image sites or quote aggregators with no book title attached, treat it with caution.

For an essay, cite the book or essay and, where possible, the chapter. Hurston wrote much of her dialogue in dialect, so copy spellings exactly as they appear in your edition. Our guide on how to quote a book in an essay covers the format.

If you are building a Black History Month display or reading list, our posts on Black history quotes on education and James Baldwin quotes on education follow the same sourcing rules.

FAQ

What is Zora Neale Hurston’s most famous quote?

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer” and the title line of Their Eyes Were Watching God are the most widely quoted.

What is the first line of Their Eyes Were Watching God?

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.”

Where does “research is formalized curiosity” come from?

Hurston’s 1942 autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road.

What did Hurston mean by “sharpening my oyster knife”?

That she saw the world as something to be opened and enjoyed, and was too busy doing that to feel sorry for herself. The line is from her 1928 essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.”

The opposite is literal language, which means exactly what it says. “It’s raining heavily” is literal.

Figurative vs. literal language

The quickest test is to ask whether the sentence would be true if you took every word at face value.

“My backpack weighs a ton” is figurative. It is an exaggeration.

“My backpack weighs twelve pounds” is literal. It is a measurement.

Most everyday speech mixes the two without anyone noticing. “I’m drowning in homework” and “that test was a breeze” are both figurative, and both are so common that they barely register as figures of speech.

The main types of figurative language

There are dozens of named figures of speech, but school assignments usually focus on the eight below.

Simile

A simile compares two different things using “like” or “as.”

Example: “The classroom was as quiet as a library on a Sunday.”

The comparison is out in the open, which makes similes the easiest type to spot.

Metaphor

A metaphor compares two things by saying one is the other, without “like” or “as.”

Example: “The hallway was a river of students between classes.”

Metaphors are stronger than similes because they don’t hedge. Our post on metaphor in Letter from Birmingham Jail walks through eight real examples and what each one does.

Personification

Personification gives human qualities or actions to something that is not human.

Example: “The old printer groaned every time someone pressed print.”

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration for effect. It is not meant to be believed.

Example: “I’ve told you a million times to put your name on your paper.”

Idiom

An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning can’t be worked out from the individual words.

Examples: “break the ice,” “hit the books,” “under the weather.”

Idioms are the hardest type for English learners, because the literal meaning is usually no help at all.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it describes.

Examples: “buzz,” “sizzle,” “thud,” “crack.”

Some teachers classify it as a sound device rather than figurative language, so check which list your class is using.

Alliteration

Alliteration repeats the same first consonant sound in nearby words.

Example: “Silent students scribbled steadily.”

Like onomatopoeia, it is about sound more than meaning, and it often appears on figurative-language lists anyway.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron puts two contradictory words side by side.

Examples: “deafening silence,” “jumbo shrimp,” “seriously funny.”

Other types you may see

Allusion is a brief reference to a well-known person, place, story or event, such as calling a hard task “my Everest.”

Symbolism uses an object to stand for a larger idea, such as a dove for peace.

Understatement deliberately makes something sound smaller than it is, such as calling a hurricane “a bit of wind.”

Irony says the opposite of what is meant, or shows the opposite of what is expected.

Why writers use figurative language

It creates a picture. “Her voice was sandpaper” gives you a sound in four words.

It explains something unfamiliar through something familiar. Comparing the heart to a pump is a metaphor that has helped generations of students understand circulation.

It carries tone. Hyperbole makes writing funny or dramatic. Understatement makes it dry.

It makes a line memorable. Speeches and slogans lean on metaphor and alliteration because they stick.

How to identify figurative language in a text

Read the sentence literally first. If the literal meaning is impossible or silly, the writer is being figurative.

Look for “like” or “as” to catch similes. Look for “is,” “was” or “are” joining two unlike things to catch metaphors.

Check whether a non-human thing is doing something only a person could do. That is personification.

Once you’ve named the device, explain its effect. “This is a simile” earns little credit on its own. “This simile makes the room feel tense and silent” is analysis. Our guide on how to analyze a quote in an essay shows how to build that explanation.

Teaching figurative language

For younger students, start with similes and hyperbole, which are the easiest to hear. Move to metaphor and personification once students can explain a simile.

Song lyrics, picture books and ads are good sources because they are short and full of figures of speech. Students can also rewrite a figurative sentence literally and compare the two versions, which makes the effect obvious.

For English learners, teach idioms in small themed groups (weather idioms, school idioms) with the literal meaning beside each one. Our English class quotes post has lines about language that work well as warm-ups.

FAQ

What is figurative language in simple words?

It is language that doesn’t mean exactly what the words say, used to describe something in a more vivid way.

What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

A simile uses “like” or “as” to compare. A metaphor says one thing is another.

Is an idiom figurative language?

Yes. Idioms are figurative because their meaning isn’t the literal meaning of the words.

How many types of figurative language are there?

There is no fixed number. Most school lists include between six and twelve types, with simile, metaphor, personification and hyperbole on nearly all of them.

The scene in Breaking Bad

By this point in the series, Walt, a high school chemistry teacher, has secretly built a methamphetamine empire under the name Heisenberg. Hank is a DEA agent who has spent much of the series hunting Heisenberg without suspecting his own family.

At the end of the previous episode, “Gliding Over All,” Hank finds a handwritten dedication inside Walt’s copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. It was written by Gale Boetticher, Walt’s former lab assistant, and it tells Hank who Walt really is.

In “Blood Money,” Walt notices the book is missing and finds a GPS tracker on his car. He drives to Hank’s house to ask about it. In Hank’s garage, Hank closes the door, punches Walt and accuses him of being Heisenberg.

Walt doesn’t confess. He tells Hank the case would be hard to prove, and that his cancer has returned and would likely kill him before he ever saw a prison. Hank says he doesn’t even know who Walt is anymore.

Walt’s answer is the line people remember. If Hank doesn’t know who he is, Walt says, then Hank’s best course is to “tread lightly.”

The full sentence is quoted a few slightly different ways online. The two words at the end are the part everyone agrees on, and the part everyone quotes.

What “tread lightly” means in the scene

On the surface, it is advice to be careful. In context, it is a threat.

Up to this moment, Walt has played the harmless, ill family man. With “tread lightly,” he drops that act without technically admitting anything. He is telling Hank that the person standing in the garage is Heisenberg, and that Heisenberg is dangerous.

That is why the line lands so hard. It is quiet, it is polite, and it changes the relationship between the two characters for the rest of the series.

The episode was written by Peter Gould and directed by Bryan Cranston, who plays Walt. The National Post‘s recap the next day ran under the headline “Tread lightly.”

Other Breaking Bad lines in the same spirit

“Tread lightly” belongs to a small group of short Walter White lines that mark his shift from victim to villain.

“I am the one who knocks” comes from Season 4, in the episode “Cornered,” when Walt tells his wife, Skyler, that he is not the one in danger.

“Say my name” comes from the Season 5 episode of the same name, when Walt demands that a rival acknowledge him as Heisenberg.

All three work the same way: a few plain words, delivered calmly, that carry a threat. If you like tracing where famous screen lines come from, our post on the Godfather favor quote looks at another crime-drama line that is really a warning.

Where “tread lightly” comes from

To tread is to step or walk. To tread lightly is literally to step softly, and figuratively to proceed with care and tact.

The image is an old one. W.B. Yeats used a close cousin of it in his 1899 poem “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven,” which ends, “Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” In the poem it is a plea for gentleness, not a threat.

The phrase also has an outdoor meaning. Tread Lightly! is the name of a US nonprofit that promotes responsible outdoor recreation, in the sense of leaving as little mark as possible.

How to use “tread lightly” in a sentence

Most everyday uses are neutral advice.

“The committee is still upset about last year’s budget, so tread lightly in the meeting.”

“If you bring up the move with your grandmother, tread lightly. She isn’t happy about it.”

Said with a certain look, it becomes a playful Breaking Bad reference, usually over something trivial like the last slice of pizza.

How to cite the quote

In MLA 9, cite the episode rather than the series. A works cited entry looks like this:

“Blood Money.” Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, season 5, episode 9, AMC, 11 Aug. 2013.

In your paragraph, name the speaker and put the quoted words in quotation marks. Our guide on how to quote a show in an essay walks through the format step by step.

FAQ

What episode of Breaking Bad is “tread lightly” from?

“Blood Money,” Season 5, Episode 9, first aired August 11, 2013.

Who says “tread lightly” in Breaking Bad?

Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, says it to Hank Schrader, played by Dean Norris.

Is “tread lightly” a threat?

In the show, yes. In everyday speech, it usually just means “be careful.”

What is the difference between “tread lightly” and “tread softly”?

They mean nearly the same thing. “Tread softly” is best known from the Yeats poem, while “tread lightly” is the Breaking Bad line.

The scene

The Breakfast Club follows five high school students serving Saturday detention in the library at Shermer High School in Illinois. Each one fits a type that the group later names: a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Bender is the criminal.

Partway through the day, Bender goes after Claire, the popular “princess” played by Molly Ringwald. He mocks her diamond earrings and suggests they were a gift from her father.

Then he describes his own Christmas. He got a carton of cigarettes, and his father grabbed him and said, “Hey, smoke up, Johnny.” Bender’s first name is John, so “Johnny” is his father talking to him.

Bender tells the story in a short, angry speech with strong language, so check the scene before showing it to a class.

What the line means

On the surface, the gift is generous. A carton holds ten packs, and Bender smokes.

Underneath, it says his father doesn’t care. He hands a teenager something harmful, with no thought and no effort, and treats it as a joke. Set next to Claire’s earrings, it shows the gap between the two families and explains some of Bender’s hostility toward her.

The line also fits a pattern in the film. Each of the five students has a problem at home. Andrew is pushed by his father to win at any cost. Brian is under pressure to be perfect at school. Claire feels caught between her parents. Allison says her parents ignore her. Bender’s story is the harshest of the five, and “smoke up, Johnny” is the lightest-sounding piece of it.

Not every critic reads the scene as cruelty. An A.V. Club piece on terrible gifts in film and TV argued that the father’s line comes across as more jovial than abusive. That view is worth knowing if you are writing an essay, because it gives you a counterargument to address.

Why people still quote it

The line is short, specific and a little absurd, which makes it easy to remember. Fans use it as a joke caption, usually for a gift that is a bit too on the nose. It has also been referenced on other shows, including the sitcom Community.

It also dates the film. In 1985, a carton of cigarettes as a gift to a teenager was bleak but believable. Today the joke lands differently, which is part of why it gets discussed.

Other Bender lines people quote

Bender spends most of the film baiting Principal Vernon, played by Paul Gleason. After Bender pulls a screw from the library door so it swings shut, he shrugs off Vernon’s questions: “Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.”

The five labels from the ending, “a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal,” come from the essay Brian writes for Vernon on behalf of the group. Short lines like these are popular as yearbook quotes. Our post on crazy senior quotes covers how to pick one that won’t get cut.

Using the quote in an essay

If you are writing about The Breakfast Club, “smoke up, Johnny” is useful evidence for the theme of parents and neglect. Pair it with what each of the other students reveals about home, and the pattern becomes your argument.

Name the speaker, describe the moment and keep the quote short. In MLA 9, the works cited entry looks like this:

The Breakfast Club. Directed by John Hughes, Universal Pictures, 1985.

Our guide on how to quote a movie shows the in-text format. For another short screen line with a longer story behind it, see our post on the just keep swimming quote.

FAQ

What movie is “smoke up, Johnny” from?

The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes and released in 1985.

Who says “smoke up, Johnny”?

John Bender, played by Judd Nelson, quotes his father saying it when he gave Bender a carton of cigarettes for Christmas.

What does “smoke up, Johnny” mean?

Literally, “go ahead and smoke.” In the film, it shows that Bender’s father doesn’t care about him.

Is The Breakfast Club OK to show in class?

It is rated R and includes strong language and marijuana use, so most schools need parent permission or use selected scenes.

The games below are grouped by type, with the number of players and what you need. A short list of games to skip is at the end.

Hide-and-seek games in the dark

1. Sardines

Players: 4 or more. You need: a house with the lights off.

One person hides while everyone else counts. Seekers split up, and when someone finds the hider, they quietly squeeze into the hiding spot too. The game ends when the last seeker finds a closet full of silent people. That last seeker hides next.

It gets creepier as the house empties out, because the remaining seekers can’t tell where everyone went.

2. Flashlight tag

Players: 4 or more. You need: one flashlight and a large dark space, indoors or out.

The player who is “it” holds the flashlight. Anyone caught in the beam is tagged and becomes “it” next. Hiders move in the dark and try not to make noise.

3. Ghost in the graveyard

Players: 5 or more. You need: a yard at dusk and a home base.

One player, the ghost, hides. Everyone else counts off the hours from one o’clock to midnight at base, then goes looking. Whoever spots the ghost shouts, and everyone races back to base. Anyone the ghost tags becomes a ghost for the next round.

Mystery and murder games

4. Murder in the dark

Players: 6 or more. You need: a deck of cards and a room you can darken.

Deal one card to each player. One card marks the murderer and another marks the detective, and the detective announces themselves. The lights go off and everyone wanders. The murderer taps a victim, who counts to five and screams. Lights on, and the detective questions everyone to find the killer.

5. Wink murder

Players: 6 or more. You need: nothing.

Everyone sits in a circle. The secret murderer “kills” players by winking at them, and victims dramatically fall over. The detective in the middle has three guesses to name the murderer. It works in daylight too, which makes it good for younger groups.

6. Werewolf

Players: 7 or more. You need: a narrator and a way to assign roles, such as slips of paper.

The narrator secretly makes one or two players werewolves. At “night,” everyone closes their eyes and the werewolves silently choose a victim. During the “day,” the group argues and votes to banish a suspect. Villagers win if they find every werewolf. The same game is often played as Mafia.

Legends and rituals

7. Bloody Mary

Players: 2 or more. You need: a mirror in a dark bathroom.

Players take turns standing in front of the mirror, usually with a single dim light, and say “Bloody Mary” three times. According to the legend, a figure appears in the glass. Nothing appears, but the build-up does the work.

There is a real reason the face in the mirror can seem to change. In 2010, the Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo described a “strange-face-in-the-mirror” illusion: after staring at your own reflection in low light for about a minute, most people see their face distort. Knowing that can take the edge off for nervous players, or make it scarier for everyone else.

8. Light as a feather, stiff as a board

Players: 5 or more. You need: floor space.

One person lies flat while the others kneel around them and place two fingers under their body. One player tells a spooky story about how the person “died,” the group chants “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” and then everyone lifts together.

The person rises surprisingly easily because their weight is split across many fingers. The game is centuries old; a version appears in Samuel Pepys’s diary in 1665.

9. Charlie Charlie

Players: 2 or more. You need: paper and two pencils.

Draw a cross on paper and write “yes” and “no” in the four boxes. Balance one pencil across the other. Players ask “Charlie” questions and watch which way the top pencil swings. It swings because a balanced pencil moves at the slightest breath or bump. The game went viral online in 2015.

Storytelling games

10. Red door, yellow door

Players: 2 or more. You need: a quiet room.

One player lies down with their eyes closed and their head in the guide’s lap. The guide rubs their temples and asks them to picture a hallway of colored doors. The player describes what is behind each door they open. The guide ends the game by walking them back out of the hallway.

It is more atmospheric than frightening. Agree beforehand that the player can open their eyes and stop at any time.

11. Scary story chain

Players: 3 or more. You need: one flashlight.

Sit in a circle in the dark. The person holding the flashlight adds one sentence to a scary story, then passes it on. The story usually turns funny halfway through, which suits mixed groups.

12. Glow-stick scavenger hunt

Players: any number. You need: glow sticks and a list of hidden items.

Hide small objects around a dark house or yard and give each team a glow stick and a list. The first team back with everything wins. For a class party, swap the list for Halloween-themed clues. Our fall quotes for teachers post has lines that work on clue cards.

Games to skip

Some “real life” scary games that circulate online are not worth the risk.

Skip anything that uses candles or matches in the dark, such as the “Midnight Game.” Skip anything that involves a knife, such as “Hide and Seek Alone.”

Skip anything that involves restricting breathing. The so-called choking game is not a game, and the CDC has documented deaths among children and teens from it.

Some families also object to Ouija boards or “summoning” games on religious grounds. Check with parents before a sleepover.

Tips for a scary game night

Agree on a “lights on” word before you start, so anyone can stop a game without explaining why.

Make sitting out a normal option. Not everyone enjoys being scared, and a job like narrator or timekeeper keeps them in the group.

Clear the floor of anything to trip over before the lights go off, and keep one flashlight per person nearby.

Feed everyone first. If you’re hosting, our lazy 30-minute one-pot dinners are easy to scale for a group.

FAQ

What scary games can two people play?

Bloody Mary, Charlie Charlie, red door, yellow door and a two-person scary story chain all work with two players.

What is a good scary game for a large group?

Werewolf and murder in the dark both work well with eight or more players.

Are these games OK for kids?

The games in the numbered list are fine for most kids with an adult nearby. Wink murder and the scavenger hunt suit younger children, and Bloody Mary and red door, yellow door suit older kids and teens.

Hawthorne’s chapter numbers are consistent across editions, so they are the safest thing to cite. Page numbers vary.

Public sin: Hester and the letter

Hester’s sin is known from the first scaffold scene. The town’s answer is to make it visible and permanent.

“On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.” — Narrator, Chapter 2.

The letter was meant as a punishment, but Hester embroiders it beautifully. Essays often read this as her refusing to be only ashamed.

“It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.” — Narrator, Chapter 2. This is the letter’s first job: isolation.

“Her sin, her ignominy, were the roots which she had struck into the soil.” — Narrator, Chapter 5. It explains why Hester stays in Boston when she could leave. The place of her sin has become the place she belongs.

In the same chapter, the narrator says the letter gave Hester “a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts.” Her public sin makes her notice everyone else’s private ones.

Hidden sin: Dimmesdale

Dimmesdale is the father of Hester’s child, and he spends most of the novel preaching while hiding it. Hawthorne treats his secret as worse for him than the letter is for Hester.

In Chapter 3, Dimmesdale publicly urges Hester to name her partner, which is to say him. His words are an argument against his own silence.

“What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” — Dimmesdale, Chapter 3.

Hester refuses. “I will not speak!” — Hester, Chapter 3.

By Chapter 11, the congregation loves Dimmesdale more the worse he feels. “He had spoken the very truth, and transformed it into the veriest falsehood.” — Narrator, Chapter 11. He tells his listeners he is a sinner, and they hear humility instead of confession.

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” — Narrator, Chapter 20. This is the clearest statement of what hidden sin does to Dimmesdale.

The worst sin: Chillingworth

Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, arrives just as she is being punished. He takes a false name and attaches himself to Dimmesdale as a physician, and his revenge becomes the novel’s darkest sin.

In Chapter 4, he admits some of the fault is his. “We have wronged each other.” — Chillingworth to Hester, Chapter 4. He goes on to say he was first to do wrong, by marrying a young woman when he was old and cold.

In the forest in Chapter 17, Dimmesdale ranks the sins directly.

“We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old man’s revenge has been blacker than my sin.” — Dimmesdale, Chapter 17.

He continues that Chillingworth “has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart.” The key idea for essays is “in cold blood.” Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin was passion. Chillingworth’s is deliberate.

Pearl as the product of sin

Hester’s daughter Pearl is described as both a punishment and a blessing. The Puritans see only the first.

“An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants.” — Narrator, Chapter 6, describing how the town’s children and adults see Pearl.

Pearl is also the only character who keeps pressing Dimmesdale to acknowledge them in daylight. In that sense she works as the novel’s conscience.

Does sin change Hester?

By the middle of the book, seven years have passed, and the town’s reading of the letter has shifted.

“Many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.” — Narrator, Chapter 13.

But the narrator adds a warning in the same chapter: “The scarlet letter had not done its office.” Hester has become stronger and more independent in her thinking, but not penitent in the way the Puritans intended.

In the forest, she says something the town would call a second sin. “What we did had a consecration of its own.” — Hester to Dimmesdale, Chapter 17.

“The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers.” — Narrator, Chapter 18.

Confession and the moral

Dimmesdale finally confesses on the scaffold in Chapter 23, with Hester and Pearl beside him, and dies there.

“Is not this better than what we dreamed of in the forest?” — Dimmesdale, Chapter 23.

In the conclusion, the narrator gives the lesson he takes from Dimmesdale’s story.

“Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!” — Narrator, Chapter 24.

This line is the one to use for a thesis about hidden versus revealed sin. Hawthorne’s point is not that sin can be avoided, but that concealing it does more damage than the sin itself.

Using these quotes in an essay

Cite the chapter, and make clear whether a line comes from a character or the narrator. Much of the book’s judgment about sin is in narration, not dialogue, and teachers notice when a narrator’s line is credited to Hester.

For a short quote, blend it into your own sentence. For a longer passage, like the Chapter 17 lines, a block quote may fit better. Our guides on how to quote a book in an essay and how to analyze a quote in an essay cover both. If you are comparing how different novels treat guilt, our posts on Macbeth quotes and Animal Farm corruption quotes use the same format.

FAQ

What is the main sin in The Scarlet Letter?

Adultery is the sin the town punishes. The novel argues that Dimmesdale’s hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s revenge are worse.

Who says “We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world”?

Dimmesdale, in the forest scene in Chapter 17. He is referring to Chillingworth.

What does the scarlet letter stand for?

It stands for adultery, though the word is never written out. By Chapter 13, many townspeople say it means “Able.”

Which quote best sums up the theme of sin?

Most teachers point to “Be true! Be true! Be true!” from Chapter 24, because it states the novel’s moral directly.

The quotes below are grouped by theme, with the speaker and chapter for each. Chapter numbers are the same in every edition, so cite those rather than page numbers.

Marriage and ownership

The novel’s first chapter shows how Léonce Pontellier sees his wife. Edna has come back from the beach sunburned, and he looks at her “as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage.” — Narrator, Chapter 1.

That single comparison sets up the whole book. Edna’s awakening is largely a refusal to be that property.

In Chapter 17, after an argument with Léonce, Edna takes off her wedding ring, throws it on the carpet and “stamped her heel upon it, striving to crush it.” — Narrator, Chapter 17. The ring is undamaged. Essays often read this as a sign that the marriage bond is harder to break than Edna thinks.

By Chapter 36, she says it outright to Robert Lebrun, who has talked of asking Léonce to set her free.

“I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose.” — Edna, Chapter 36.

Motherhood and the “mother-women”

Chapter 4 describes the other women at Grand Isle, led by Edna’s friend Adèle Ratignolle.

“They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.” — Narrator, Chapter 4.

The narrator’s verdict follows soon after: “In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman.”

In Chapter 16, Edna tries to explain the difference to Adèle.

“I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself.” — Edna, Chapter 16.

This is one of the most quoted lines in the novel, and a strong choice for a thesis about identity versus duty.

Edna’s awakening

“In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her.” — Narrator, Chapter 6.

Chapter 7 explains that this inner life was not new. Even as a child, Edna “had apprehended instinctively the dual life—that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.”

Back in New Orleans, Léonce wonders whether his wife is becoming mentally unbalanced. The narrator corrects him.

“He could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.” — Narrator, Chapter 19.

When Edna decides to move into a small house of her own, the narrator says she had “resolved never again to belong to another than herself.” — Narrator, Chapter 26.

In Chapter 32, living in the small house the novel calls the “pigeon house,” she finds that “every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual.”

The sea

The sea is the novel’s central symbol of freedom and of the inner life. Chapter 6 introduces it in a passage that returns, almost word for word, in the final chapter.

“The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude.” — Narrator, Chapter 6.

In Chapter 10, Edna swims alone for the first time. The narrator compares her to “the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone.”

“She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before.” — Narrator, Chapter 10.

Art, courage and strong wings

Mademoiselle Reisz, a pianist who lives alone and ignores social rules, is the novel’s model of an independent woman. When Edna tells her she is becoming an artist, Reisz warns her how much that takes.

“And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul.” — Mademoiselle Reisz, Chapter 21.

In Chapter 27, Edna tells Alcée Arobin that Reisz felt her shoulder blades to see whether her wings were strong, and repeats what Reisz said.

“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.” — Mademoiselle Reisz, quoted by Edna, Chapter 27.

Birds run through the whole novel, from the caged parrot in Chapter 1 to a bird with a broken wing in the final chapter. Tracking them is an easy way to organize an essay on freedom.

The ending

In Chapter 37, Adèle, who has just given birth, urges Edna to remember her responsibilities. “Think of the children, Edna. Oh think of the children! Remember them!” — Adèle, Chapter 37.

In Chapter 38, walking home with Doctor Mandelet, Edna reflects on what her awakening has cost.

“Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.” — Edna, Chapter 38.

The novel ends in Chapter 39, with Edna returning to Grand Isle and swimming out into the Gulf alone. Most readers take the ending as her death. Critics still debate whether it is a defeat or a final act of independence, and either reading can be argued from the text.

In that last chapter, Edna thinks of her husband and sons: “They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul.”

Using these quotes in an essay

Much of the novel’s commentary is in the narration, so be clear about who is speaking. Credit narration to the narrator, not to Edna.

Short lines like “I give myself where I choose” work best blended into your own sentence. Our guides on how to quote a book in an essay and how to analyze a quote in an essay cover the format and the explanation. For an essay comparing Chopin with earlier arguments about women’s independence, our Mary Wollstonecraft quotes are a useful pairing.

FAQ

What is the most famous quote from The Awakening?

“I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself,” from Chapter 16, is the line most often quoted.

What does the sea symbolize in The Awakening?

Freedom, solitude and Edna’s inner life. The same passage about “the voice of the sea” appears in Chapter 6 and again at the end of the novel.

How was The Awakening received in 1899?

Most reviewers disapproved of it. The novel was largely forgotten until critics revived interest in Chopin in the mid-20th century.

Who says “the artist must possess the courageous soul”?

Mademoiselle Reisz, speaking to Edna in Chapter 21.

Today the phrase means “skip the opinions and the storytelling, and tell me only what happened.”

What Joe Friday actually said

Dragnet began on radio in 1949 and moved to television in 1951, running on both for several years. Webb created the show and starred as Friday, a flat, businesslike Los Angeles detective.

When Friday questioned a witness, especially a woman who drifted into a long story, he steered her back with “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” A variant, “All we know are the facts, ma’am,” also appears.

Both versions fit the show’s style: short sentences, no emotion and a focus on procedure. Dragnet‘s opening narration, which said the story was true and the names had been changed to protect the innocent, set the same tone.

Where “just the facts” came from

In 1953 Stan Freberg released “St. George and the Dragonet,” a record that spoofed Dragnet. It went to number one on the Billboard pop chart. The flip side, “Little Blue Riding Hood,” spoofed the show again by recasting a fairy tale as a police case.

In “Little Blue Riding Hood,” Freberg’s detective, Sgt. Wednesday, says, “I just want to get the facts, ma’am.”

According to the fact-checking site Snopes, which cites Webb biographer Michael J. Hayde, the public shortened that line to “just the facts, ma’am.” Newspapers and interviewers picked up the short version, and it was soon credited to Friday as if he had said it all along.

Why the misquote stuck

The short version sounds more like Friday than his real line does. It is clipped, it has a rhythm, and it fits the character’s reputation.

This happens often with famous quotes. People remember a tidier line than the original and attach it to the person it seems to suit. “Elementary, my dear Watson” is a similar case: the phrase is famous, but Sherlock Holmes does not say it in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. Our posts on the Benjamin Franklin quote about learning and the teach a man to fish quote trace two more.

What the phrase means today

“Just the facts” is now an everyday expression. People use it to ask for a plain account without interpretation, excuses or padding.

A manager might say it before hearing why a project is late. A teacher might use it to explain the difference between a summary and an opinion. Journalists use it as shorthand for straight news reporting.

The “ma’am” is often dropped. When it’s kept, it’s usually a deliberate nod to Dragnet, said in a flat police voice.

The tone can be neutral or a little impatient, depending on context. “Just give me the facts” can sound like a request or like a warning to stop rambling.

Using “just the facts” in the classroom

The phrase is a handy way to teach the line between fact and opinion. Give students a short news story and ask them to rewrite it “just the facts” style, removing every adjective that expresses a judgment.

It also works for teaching quotation accuracy. Ask students to find the real Dragnet line, then compare it with the version everyone remembers. That leads naturally into why you should check a quote before using it, and how to cite a primary source. Our guide on how to cite a quote from a person covers the citation side.

How to attribute it correctly

If you want to quote the famous version, you can write that the phrase is “popularly attributed to Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet.” That is accurate.

If you are quoting what Friday actually said, use “All we want are the facts, ma’am.”

If you are writing about the origin, credit Stan Freberg’s 1953 parody for the shortened form.

FAQ

Did Joe Friday ever say “just the facts, ma’am”?

Not in the original Dragnet in those words. His recurring line was “All we want are the facts, ma’am.”

Who played Joe Friday?

Jack Webb, who also created, produced and directed Dragnet.

Who came up with “just the facts, ma’am”?

The phrase grew out of Stan Freberg’s 1953 Dragnet parody, in which his detective says, “I just want to get the facts, ma’am.” The public shortened it.

What does “just the facts” mean?

It means give only the plain, verifiable information, without opinions, feelings or extra detail.

The questions are grouped into six rounds, so you can run them as a full quiz game or pull one category for a quick warm-up. There is a compact answer key at the end for hosts.

90s movie trivia

1. Which 1997 film became the first to earn more than $1 billion worldwide?

Answer: Titanic.

2. What 1993 movie brought dinosaurs back to life in a theme park?

Answer: Jurassic Park.

3. Which 1994 film is famous for comparing life to a box of chocolates?

Answer: Forrest Gump.

4. What was the first feature film made entirely with computer animation?

Answer: Toy Story, released in 1995.

5. In Home Alone (1990), what is Kevin’s family’s last name?

Answer: McCallister.

6. Which 1999 film asks its hero to choose between a red pill and a blue pill?

Answer: The Matrix.

7. What 1994 Disney film follows a lion cub named Simba?

Answer: The Lion King.

8. Which actor won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump?

Answer: Tom Hanks.

90s TV trivia

9. What is the name of the coffee shop in Friends?

Answer: Central Perk.

10. In what year did Friends premiere?

Answer: 1994.

11. What was the name of the high school in Saved by the Bell?

Answer: Bayside High.

12. Who played a West Philadelphia teenager sent to live with relatives in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

Answer: Will Smith.

13. What is Kramer’s first name in Seinfeld?

Answer: Cosmo.

14. Name all four Teletubbies.

Answer: Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po.

15. Which Nickelodeon cartoon, launched in 1991, followed Tommy, Chuckie and their baby friends?

Answer: Rugrats.

16. Who hosted the US version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire when it debuted in 1999?

Answer: Regis Philbin.

90s music trivia

17. Which band released the album Nevermind in 1991?

Answer: Nirvana.

18. What was the Spice Girls’ first single?

Answer: “Wannabe,” released in 1996.

19. Name the five Spice Girls by their nicknames.

Answer: Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh.

20. Which boy band had a 1999 hit with “I Want It That Way”?

Answer: Backstreet Boys.

21. Who sang “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic?

Answer: Céline Dion.

22. Which Spanish duo recorded “Macarena”?

Answer: Los del Río.

90s toys and games trivia

23. Which giggling, shaking toy caused shopping frenzies during the 1996 holiday season?

Answer: Tickle Me Elmo.

24. What was the name of Bandai’s handheld digital pet?

Answer: Tamagotchi.

25. Which company made Beanie Babies?

Answer: Ty Inc.

26. Which two Pokémon games launched in North America in 1998?

Answer: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue.

27. Which home console did Nintendo release in 1996?

Answer: The Nintendo 64.

28. What furry talking toy did Tiger Electronics release in 1998?

Answer: Furby.

90s tech and internet trivia

29. In what year was Google founded?

Answer: 1998.

30. Which Microsoft operating system launched on August 24, 1995?

Answer: Windows 95.

31. What did “Y2K” refer to?

Answer: The year 2000, and the fear that computers storing years as two digits would fail when the date rolled over.

32. What did Amazon sell when it opened for business in 1995?

Answer: Books.

90s news, science and sports trivia

33. Which city hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics?

Answer: Atlanta.

34. How many NBA championships did the Chicago Bulls win in the 1990s?

Answer: Six.

35. What was the name of the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, born in 1996?

Answer: Dolly the sheep.

36. Which country hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup?

Answer: The United States.

37. In what year did Nelson Mandela become president of South Africa?

Answer: 1994.

38. Which bright comet was visible to the naked eye for months in 1997?

Answer: Hale-Bopp.

39. Which space telescope was launched in 1990?

Answer: The Hubble Space Telescope.

40. Which currency was introduced across much of Europe in 1999?

Answer: The euro. It started as an electronic currency, and notes and coins followed in 2002.

How to run a 90s quiz game

Split players into teams of three to five. Mixed-age teams work well for this decade, because people who were kids in the 90s remember the toys and cartoons, and older players remember the news and music.

Read one round at a time and give teams about 30 seconds per question. Award one point per correct answer. For the Spice Girls and Teletubbies questions, you can give a point for each name.

Keep a tiebreaker ready. Ask teams to write down the year the Mall of America opened, and the closest guess wins. The answer is 1992.

If you’re running this as an end-of-year class activity, our last day of school quotes work well on the slides between rounds. For a decades-themed party, our 50s quotes post covers an earlier era.

90s quiz game answers at a glance

Movies: 1. Titanic. 2. Jurassic Park. 3. Forrest Gump. 4. Toy Story. 5. McCallister. 6. The Matrix. 7. The Lion King. 8. Tom Hanks.

TV: 9. Central Perk. 10. 1994. 11. Bayside High. 12. Will Smith. 13. Cosmo. 14. Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po. 15. Rugrats. 16. Regis Philbin.

Music: 17. Nirvana. 18. “Wannabe.” 19. Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger, Posh. 20. Backstreet Boys. 21. Céline Dion. 22. Los del Río.

Toys and games: 23. Tickle Me Elmo. 24. Tamagotchi. 25. Ty Inc. 26. Pokémon Red and Blue. 27. Nintendo 64. 28. Furby.

Tech: 29. 1998. 30. Windows 95. 31. The year 2000. 32. Books.

News, science and sports: 33. Atlanta. 34. Six. 35. Dolly the sheep. 36. The United States. 37. 1994. 38. Hale-Bopp. 39. Hubble. 40. The euro.

FAQ

How many questions should a 90s trivia night have?

Around 30 to 40 questions fills an hour, including scoring. Four to six rounds of six to eight questions keeps the pace steady.

Are these questions good for kids?

Most are. The toys, cartoons and Disney questions suit younger players, while the news and music rounds suit teens and adults.

What counts as a 90s question?

Anything released or that happened from 1990 through 1999. Friends and Pokémon ran well past the decade, but both started in the 90s.

The quotes below are sorted by stage of the war, with the speaker, the date and what was happening. They work for history essays, DBQs and class presentations.

Going to war: 1810–1812

The United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812. The main grievances were British impressment of American sailors, restrictions on American trade, and British support for Native American resistance in the Northwest.

“We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain a state of war against the United States, and on the side of the United States a state of peace toward Great Britain.” — President James Madison, war message to Congress, June 1, 1812. Madison’s argument is that Britain was already at war with the U.S. in practice, so Congress would only be recognizing it.

“I verily believe that the militia of Kentucky are alone competent to place Montreal and Upper Canada at your feet.” — Henry Clay, speech in the Senate, 1810. Clay was a leading War Hawk. The line is often quoted to show how confident expansionists were about Canada.

“The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching.” — Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Duane, August 4, 1812. The National Park Service uses this line to introduce the failed American invasions of 1812, which ended with the surrender of Detroit that August.

Useful essay angle: set Clay and Jefferson next to the actual results of 1812. The gap between prediction and outcome is the point.

The war at sea

The U.S. Navy was tiny compared with the Royal Navy, which made its early single-ship victories a major boost to morale.

“Old Ironsides”

On August 19, 1812, USS Constitution defeated HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia. According to tradition, a sailor watching British shot bounce off her oak hull shouted that her sides were made of iron, which gave the ship her nickname. Treat the exact wording as tradition rather than a recorded quote.

“Don’t give up the ship!”

“Tell the men to fire faster! Don’t give up the ship!” — Captain James Lawrence, USS Chesapeake, June 1, 1813. The Naval History and Heritage Command notes that tradition places these words after Lawrence was mortally wounded in the fight with HMS Shannon. The Chesapeake was captured, but the words outlived the defeat.

“We have met the enemy and they are ours”

“We have met the enemy and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.” — Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, dispatch to General William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. Perry scrawled it on the back of an envelope. The victory gave the U.S. control of Lake Erie.

Perry’s flagship flew a blue battle flag stitched with “DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP,” in honor of Lawrence, who had been his friend. The flag is now at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Washington burns and Baltimore holds: 1814

British troops burned the Capitol and the White House on August 24, 1814. Three weeks later, the Royal Navy bombarded Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor through the night of September 13–14.

Francis Scott Key watched the bombardment from a ship in the harbor. When he saw the American flag still flying at dawn, he wrote the poem later titled “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light” — Francis Scott Key, 1814, first line.

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave” — Francis Scott Key, 1814, closing line of each verse.

The poem was set to an existing tune and became the national anthem by act of Congress in 1931.

Dolley Madison’s account of saving George Washington’s portrait from the White House is often quoted too. Historians note that the version usually printed was rewritten later, so cite it with care or describe the event instead of quoting it.

Ending the war: 1814–1815

By late 1814, both sides were tired of an expensive war that neither was winning outright.

“I think you have no right, from the state of the war, to demand any concession of territory from America.” — the Duke of Wellington, letter to Prime Minister Lord Liverpool, November 9, 1814. Britain’s top general had been offered the American command. His advice helped push British negotiators to drop their territorial demands.

“There shall be a firm and universal Peace between His Britannic Majesty and the United States.” — Treaty of Ghent, Article I, signed December 24, 1814. The treaty returned things largely to how they stood before the war.

News traveled slowly. The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, after the treaty was signed but before it was ratified. Andrew Jackson’s victory there made him a national figure and shaped how Americans remembered the war.

Using these quotes in an essay

Match the quote to the claim. For causes, use Madison. For overconfidence, use Clay or Jefferson. For national identity, use Lawrence, Perry or Key. For the stalemate, use Wellington and the treaty.

Always name the speaker and the date in your sentence, since readers won’t know most of these people. For formats, see how to quote a speech. For other early-American primary sources, see quotes about the Articles of Confederation and quotes from Federalist 10.

FAQ

What is the most famous quote from the War of 1812?

“Don’t give up the ship!” from Captain James Lawrence (1813) and “We have met the enemy and they are ours” from Oliver Hazard Perry (1813) are the two best known. Both remain U.S. Navy mottoes.

Who said “Don’t give up the ship”?

Captain James Lawrence of USS Chesapeake, after being mortally wounded in battle with HMS Shannon on June 1, 1813.

Who said “We have met the enemy and they are ours”?

Oliver Hazard Perry, in his report to William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813.

Is “We have met the enemy and he is us” from the War of 1812?

No. That is Walt Kelly’s parody of Perry’s line, popularized by his comic strip Pogo on a 1970 Earth Day poster.

Which quote from the War of 1812 became the national anthem?

Francis Scott Key’s 1814 poem about Fort McHenry, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Congress made it the national anthem in 1931.