15 great opening lines in literature
These leading authors packed a one-two punch with great opening lines. Take a look at our pick of 15 of the best.
1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen.
2. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way." A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickins.
3. "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticising any one, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” The Great Gatsby, Scott F. Fitzgerald.
4. "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." The Go-Between, L.P. Hartley.
5. "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Anna Karenina, Leon Tolstoy.
6. “Call me Ishmael.” Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
7. "It was the day my grandmother exploded." The Crow Road, Iain Banks.
8. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell.
9. “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta." Vladamir Nabokov.
10. "It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York." The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath.
11. “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.” Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galazy, Douglas Adams.
12. “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” Emma, Jane Austin.
13. "Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure." The Stranger, Albert Camus.
14. "It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love." Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
15. "All children, except one, grow up." Peter Pan, James M. Barrie.
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