J.K. Rowling Quotes: 215

• If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

• Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears."After all this time?" "Always,"said Snape.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• The truth."Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Do you remember me telling you we are practicing non-verbal spells, Potter?" "Yes,"said Harry stiffly."Yes, sir." "There's no need to call me "sir"Professor."The words had escaped him before he knew what he was saying.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• He can run faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?"Harry interrupted again."So he can sneak up on people,"said Ron. "Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking...

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?" "Yes." "You called her a liar?" "Yes." "You told her He Who Must Not Be Named is back?" "Yes." "Have a biscuit, Potter.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• You're a prefect? Oh Ronnie! That's everyone in the family!" "What are Fred and I? Next door neighbors?

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me.

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Not my daughter, you bitch!

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Percy wouldn't notice a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing one of Dobby's hats.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• You haven't got a letter on yours,"George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid-we know we're called Gred and Forge.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out.

• You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts...but you cannot deny he's got style...

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Don't talk to me." "Why not?" "Because I want to fix that in my memory for ever. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret...

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Why are they all staring?"demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students."Don’t let it worry you,"said Ron. "It’s me. I’m extremely famous.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.

• Cinderella? Snow White? What's that? An illness?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• He must have known I'd want to leave you." "No, he must have known you would always want to come back.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Albus Severus,"Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Holey? You have the the whole world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• How do you feel, Georgie?"whispered Mrs. Weasley.George's fingers groped for the side of his head."Saintlike,"he murmured."What's wrong with him?"croaked Fred, looking terrified. "Is his mind affected?" "Saintlike,"repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. "You see...I'm HOLEY, Fred, geddit?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –" "Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." "Great idea though, thanks, Mum.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Oh well... I'd just been thinking, if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• I don't believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.

• Is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me.

• Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher. There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head!

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• The thing about growing up with Fred and George,"said Ginny thoughtfully, "is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• You'll stay with me?'Until the very end,' said James.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• It is my belief... that the truth is generally preferable to lies.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with my news...check if I'm happy...

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get one that hits back.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Why were you lurking under our window?" "Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our windows, boy?" "Listening to the news,"said Harry in a resigned voice.His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage."Listening to the news! Again?" "Well, it changes every day, you see,"said Harry.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• One can never have enough socks,"said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• Give her hell from us, Peeves.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backward.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Youth can not know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Ginny!"said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain?

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

• Why are you worrying about YOU-KNOW-WHO, when you should be worrying about YOU-NO-POO? The constipation sensation that's gripping the nation!

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.

• You could say sorry,"suggested Harry bluntly. "What, and get attacked by another flock of canaries?"muttered Ron."What did you have to imitate her for?" "She laughed at my mustache!" "So did I, it was the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• An Unbreakable Vow?"said Ron, looking stunned. "Nah, he can’t have.... Are you sure?" "Yes I’m sure,"said Harry. "Why, what does it mean?" "Well, you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow..." "I’d worked that much out for myself, funnily enough.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• It's going to be all right, sir,"Harry said over and over again, more worried by Dumbledore's silence than he had been by his weakened voice. "We're nearly there ... I can Apparate us both back ... don't worry ..." "I am not worried, Harry,"said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• So light a fire!"Harry choked. "Yes...of course...but there's no wood!"... "HAVE YOU GONE MAD!"Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT!

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Ah, music,"he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Hello, Harry"said George, beaming at him. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones." "You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out,"said Fred, also beaming. "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Seventeen, eh!"said Hagrid as he accepted a bucket-sized glass of wine from Fred."Six years to the day we met, Harry, d’yeh remember it?" "Vaguely,"said Harry, grinning up at him. "Didn’t you smash down the front door, give Dudley a pig’s tail, and tell me I was a wizard?" "I forge’ the details,"Hagrid chortled.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• I'm going to keep going until I succeed — or die. Don't think I don't know how this might end. I've known it for years.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Accio Brain!

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• From now on, I don't care if my tea leaves spell 'Die, Ron, Die,' I'm chucking them in the bin where they belong.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Where is Wood?"said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there."Still in the showers,"said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself.

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog cards.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Don’t put your wand there, boy! ... Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• To hurt is as human as to breathe.

  The Tales of Beedle the Bard

• Well, you're expelling us aren't you?"said Ron."Not today, Mr. Weasley."Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Does it hurt?"The childish question had escaped Harry's lips before he could stop it. "Dying? Not at all,"said Sirius. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• For instance, this new idea that You-Know-Who can kill with a single glance from his eyes. That’s a basilisk, listeners. One simple test: Check whether the thing that’s glaring at you has got legs. If it has, it’s safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is You-Know-Who, that’s still likely to be the last thing you ever do.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you..." "Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?"said Harry sarcastically.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• We did it, we bashed them wee Potter's the one, and Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• I don't mean to be rude—"he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable."Yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often,"Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Mistletoe,"said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry's head. He jumped out from under it. "Good thinking,"said Luna seriously. "It's often infested with nargles.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Dumbledore will only leave from Hogwarts when there are none loyal to him!

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. Love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves it's own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• I dreamed I was buying new shoes last night,"said Ron. "What d'ya think that's gonna mean?" "Probably that you're going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow or something,"said Harry.

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Here lies Dobby, a free elf.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Snape's patronus was a doe,' said Harry, 'the same as my mother's because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from when they were children.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• After all this time?" "Always...

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• I mean, you could claim that anything's real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's proved it doesn't exist!

• What would come, would come...and you would have to meet it, when it did.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Anyone can speak Troll. All you have to do is point and grunt.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

• As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.

• So that's little Scorpious. Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank god you've inherited your mother's brains.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?"asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous pudding."The Ministry's providing a couple of cars,"said Mr. Weasley.Everyone looked up at him."Why?"said Percy curiously."It's because of you, Perce,"said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them-" "-for Humongous Bighead,"said Fred.

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• The best of us must sometimes eat our words.

• What are you doing with all those books anyway?"Ron asked. Just trying to decide which ones to take with us,"said Hermione. When we're looking for the Horcruxes."Oh, of course,"said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Would it hurt to die?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Great, tell me when you've defeated Voldemort for me, will you?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• So why in the name of Merlin’s saggy left —”“Don’t talk to your mother like that.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• I wish...I wish I were dead...”“And what use would that be to anyone?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• It unscrews the other way.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Alas! Earwax!

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Nobody's ever asked me to a party before, as a friend. Is that why you dyed your eyebrow, for the party? Should I do mine too?

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Well, we were always going to fail that one,"said Ron gloomily as they ascended the marble staircase. He had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him how he told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in the crystal ball, only to look up and realize he had been describing the examiner's reflection.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.I wish you all very good lives.

  Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination

• Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• Hermione launched herself forwards and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.'Ouch — ow — gerroff! What the — ? Hermione — OW!'“You — complete — arse — Ronald — Weasley!”She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Hello, Minister!"bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• I've never stunned anyone except in our D.A. lessons,"said Luna, sounding mildly interested. "That was noisier than I thought it would be.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Do you mean ter tell me,"he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy—this boy!—knows nothin' abou'—about ANYTHING?"Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad."I know some things,"he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• I’ll make Goyle do lines, it’ll kill him, he hates writing,” said Ron happily. He lowered his voice to Goyle’s low grunt and, screwing up his face in a look of pained concentration, mimed writing in midair. “I... must... not... look... like... a... baboon’s... backside.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter... or at least, most minds are...

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry"said Hermione, before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly and saying "oh you know what I mean - Goyle's Potion looked like bogies.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Bad news, Harry. I've just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She – er, got a bit shirty with me. Told me I'd got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about staying alive. Just because I told her I didn't care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first.

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• Fred, you next,"the plump woman said. "I'm not Fred, I'm George,"said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?" "Sorry, George, dear." "Only joking, I am Fred,"said the boy and off he went.

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

• You can laugh! But people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Would you like me to [kill you] now?"asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• I knew I could do it all this time,” said Harry, “Because I'd already done it... does that make sense?

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• What do I care how 'e looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave!

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing a stick.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Yeah, but the lost diadem,"said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point.

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences.

• I see a light in the kitchen. Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Don't forget to give Neville our love!' Ginny told James as she hugged him.'Mum! I can't give a professor love!''But you know Neville-'James rolled his eyes.'Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love....

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

• And it's Gryfindor in possession again, as Johnson takes the Quaffle— Flint alongside her —poke him in the eye, Angelina —it was a joke, professor, it was a joke...

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

• His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,His hair is as dark as a blackboard.I wish he was mine, he's really divine,The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we, we're not going to be asking, 'Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• Am I about to discover where you, Ron, and Hermione disappeared to while you were supposed to be in the back room of Fred and George's shop?''How did you...?''Harry, please. You're talking to the man who raised Fred and George.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry,"said Luna unexpectedly. Everybody looked at her. "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're working to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a mixture of dark magic and gum disease.

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

• You must accept the reality of other people. You think that reality is up for negotiation, that we think it's whatever you say it is. You must accept that we are as real as you are; you must accept that you are not God.

  The Casual Vacancy

• We can't choose our fate, but we can choose others. Be careful in knowing that.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Did you see me disarm Hermione, Harry?" "Only once"said Hermione stung. "I got you loads more then you got me—" "I did not only get you once, I got you at least three times—" "Well if you're counting the one where you tripped over your own feet and knocked the wand out of my hand—

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

• Do I look stupid?"snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy mustache.

  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

• You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Show more