There are many, many amazing quotes in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels (and by extension, the movies). Is it possible to pick just 10 Harry Potter quotes? We say it is!
July 31 is Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s shared birthday. We’re sure both real and imaginary (except it’s happening inside your head, so by Dumbledore logic, it’s all real) celebrations are always happening during the momentous occasion, and we Harry Potter fans aren’t going to miss out on a party!
Related: Quiz: Which of these bizarre creatures is your true Patronus?
To mark this yearly occasion, Hypable has gathered a list of the 10 best (yes, best!) Harry Potter quotes about life from the books. There was only one rule: they couldn’t all have been said by Albus Dumbledore.
Hopefully what follows is a list of your favorite quotes, with a few unusual choices sprinkled in for flavor.
We have all learned countless invaluable life lessons from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, but these are the 10 most important truths we always carry with us:
Best ‘Harry Potter’ quotes
‘It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.’ – Albus Dumbledore
The entire Harry Potter series is based on the power of choice. Voldemort made a choice when he marked Harry rather than Neville. Snape made a choice when he allied himself with Dumbledore. Harry made a choice when he followed Quirrell through the trap-door. Ron and Hermione chose to go with him. Every single Hogwarts student ultimately chose their own House.
And this quote is possibly the most important piece of advice J.K. Rowling has ever given us.
You can say you’re a good person, but what have you actually done to make the world a better place? Be as good as your word. Practice the kindness you claim to believe in.
And if you are of the creative mindset, don’t let your talent go to waste because you believe you’re not good enough. The best writer in the world might never publish anything because they’re too afraid of failure, whereas someone with a fraction of their abilities becomes wildly successful because they chose to make an effort, and fought tooth and nail for every word they wrote.
Your life is not defined by your pre-existing abilities, your looks, or your surroundings. You have the power to choose the person you want to become.
‘If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.’ – Sirius Black
Sirius Black was a broken man, but his heart was always in the right place.
This piece of advice, which broke up an argument between Ron and Hermione in Goblet of Fire (about house-elves, of course), has so much real-world relevance. Look at any authority figure — whether it be a politician, a celebrity, a teacher, a parent or a public service officer — and ask yourself: how does this person treat those over whom he or she holds power?
Someone can be nice and friendly when they want something from you, but how about when they hold something you want or need? Consider that, whenever you’re unsure about a person’s intentions.
It’s also worth turning this around on yourself. As Rowling’s fellow author J.M. Barrie once said, “Always try to be a little kinder.”
‘Don’t let the Muggles get you down.’ – Ron Weasley
This is an unremarkable quote at first glance, but here’s why it’s important: as Harry Potter fans, we believe in the strength of hope, the value of dreams, and the power of imagination. That makes us capable of extraordinary things.
Unfortunately the world can be a dark and bitter place. Your dreams can seem impossible, your hopes can seem futile. There is so much negativity pressing in from all sides, people telling you to give up, to accept your lot, to fall into mediocrity.
They are the Muggles. You are not a Muggle. They can’t touch you, because you have magic — whether it be literal or figurative — inside of you.
‘Perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.’ – Albus Dumbledore
This is a wonderfully provocative comment from J.K. Rowling’s #1 mouthpiece, Albus Dumbledore. After all, looking at the state of the world, are the ones who seek power and glory really the ones best suited to set the moral and legal standards we live by?
Of course to get power, you usually have to seek it, so it’s a tough standard to set for humanity. It’s hard to get attention just by being a decent person (although not impossible, as history has proven).
But to be a leader, to speak for others, you first have to allow those others to speak. To lead, you have to listen. To properly wield authority, you have to let go of your ego. It’s not too much to ask.
‘The thing about growing up with Fred and George is that you sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.’ – Ginny Weasley
Ginny Weasley is a fantastic character. While Harry is off on his own adventures, Ginny transforms herself from a vulnerable first-year who was almost swallowed by darkness into a strong, capable, Quidditch-playing badass who steps out of the shadows and turns Harry’s world upside-down in Half-Blood Prince.
She makes her life about her, not Harry, and she ends up getting everything she’s ever wanted. How does she do it? Pure and utter nerve.
The thing about life is, you’ve only got the one. Sitting back and being too scared to follow your dreams is a complete and utter waste of time. You may fail. But try. Jump as high as you can. Fall down. Get back up. Cheat. Trick the system. (Just… not in a scary illegal way. We’re talking U-No-Poo level tricks, here.)
Go to page 2 for Dumbledore’s most iconic quote, and words of wisdom from The Dark Lord himself
‘Greatness inspires envy. Envy engenders spite. Spite spawns lies.’ – Lord Voldemort
Ah yes, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is, occasionally, He-Who-Must-Be-Quoted. Because young Tom Riddle was many things, but he was never stupid.
As bleak as his worldview is, there’s an important takeaway: every single person has light and dark inside of them (a movie quote, just in case you were wondering why we didn’t include that one), and one of humanity’s most fatal flaws is envy.
Unless you yourself is doing well, it can be hard to be truly happy for someone who succeeds. When people around you land their dream jobs, start families and buy fancy things while you work hard and see no payoff, your smile starts to get a little strained. Maybe you start to wish that things wouldn’t always go as smoothly for these people.
Well, that just means you’re human. The difference between you and Voldemort (aside from 100% more nose) is that you can take a step back, breathe, and ground yourself by remembering this quote. (Or, alternatively, the Star Wars version).
‘It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness. Nothing more.’ – Albus Dumbledore
No one knows what happens when you die. Some prefer to keep it simple — our brains stop working and we cease to exist — while others believe in an afterlife, some kind of eternal space in which our souls can rest.
The thing is though, it’ll happen to everyone eventually. Death is the one certainty in life, but ironically, it is the uncertainty of it all that is so terrifying. It’s impossible to imagine that we’ll just end.
But since it’s inevitable, why do we waste our mortal lives being afraid of it? Dumbledore understood this better than anyone. As he said to Harry in another fantastic quote, “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”
‘It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and forget to live.’ – Albus Dumbledore
One of the most iconic quotes in the series, we feel like this is especially important in the age of digital media, where we jump from one screen to the next, living our lives in webs of fiction.
It can be comforting, sometimes, to put off real life. To stay safe in our imagined realities, dreaming about how things might one day be. But if we don’t work towards our goals, we’ll probably never reach them.
Life is out there, waiting for us beyond the pages of our favorite novel. Doesn’t mean that novel can’t inform us about how best to live our lives, though.
‘What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.’ – Rubeus Hagrid
Ah Hagrid, ever the pragmatist. A solid and constant presence in the series, Harry (and the reader) could always rely on the Hogwarts gamekeeper to offer some good old-fashioned logic.
We spend a lot of time worrying about the future. In fact, we are genetically engineered to always be looking ahead: where’s our next meal coming from? Where are we going to find shelter? How are we going to find a mate?
We all need a Hagrid in our lives to calm us down, and remind us that time moves whether we want it to or not. Some things are simply out of our hands, and the best thing we can do is work to make the most of what we can control, and let the rest of it simply be.
‘Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry. But why on earth should that mean that it is not real?’ – Albus Dumbledore
We end, of course, with the most defining quote of the Harry Potter series. In Philosopher’s Stone, Dumbledore warned us against the temptation to dwell on our dreams, but by Deathly Hallows, he had deemed our dreams worthy of dwelling on — because our imaginations are treasure troves full of wondrous worlds, there for us to ponder when we need a safe space.
Like Harry, we were now getting ready to leave Hogwarts behind forever. We’d spent the last seven (ish) years of our lives within these castle walls, going on adventures with Harry, Ron and Hermione, discovering ourselves through these amazing books… and now, it was time to graduate.
We went into the world knowing that it all happened. It was real. We all went to Hogwarts.
Thank you, J.K. Rowling.