The Giver Quotes to Make You Think
March 18, 2023 5:00 AM EST
What lessons will you pull away from The Giver quotes below?
Sometimes it can feel like our society is working to make us all the same.
This is a concept that is often debated from the ways that schools teach to the questioning of those that step out with a unique idea or those that want to try new things.
A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that in 2020, over 13% of Americans aged 12 or older had used illicit drugs in the past month.
This statistic could be used to support quotes from The Giver about the dangers of a society that values conformity over individuality, such as “If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would not be lost with you. Memories are forever.”
The book The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, tells a similar but much more powerful story.
In the book, the community has chosen to live a life of Sameness where there are no memories of the good or bad.
People don’t have to experience the ups and downs of emotions.
But they know they don’t want to lose all of the knowledge of the past, so they assign one person as the keeper of the memories.
And that person bears the weight for all.
Keep reading this collection of The Giver quotes and lines for more insights from the book.
Don’t forget to also check out these book quotes that will inspire you to rediscover the pleasure of reading.
Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration.
Our inspirational quote category page has even more inspirational and educational quotes.
The Giver quotes about memories
A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that in 2019, only 50% of high school students reported reading for pleasure, a decline from previous years.
This statistic could be used to support quotes from The Giver about the dangers of conformism, such as “When people have the freedom to choose, they choose wrong.”
1. “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” – The Giver
2. “And here in this room, I re-experience the memories again and again it is how wisdom comes and how we shape our future.” – The Giver
3. “It’s just that… without the memories it’s all meaningless.” – The Giver
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4. “If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would not be lost with you. Memories are forever.” – The Giver
5. “…how could you describe a hill and snow to someone who had never felt height or wind or that feathery, magical cold?” – The Giver
6. “I don’t know what you mean when you say ‘the whole world’ or ‘generations before him’. I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.” – The Giver
The Giver quotes on life in the book
A study by the Pew Research Center found that the number of Americans who have read at least one book in the past year has remained relatively stable over the past few years, with around 74% of adults having read a book in any format in 2020.
This statistic could be used to support quotes from The Giver about the importance of reading, such as “The things that truly matter in life – love, beauty, and one’s own unique experiences – are constantly being overlooked.”
7. “What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?” – The Giver
8. “The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.” – The Giver
9. “Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference.” – The Giver
10. “There was never any comfortable way to mention or discuss one’s successes without breaking the rule against bragging, even if one didn’t mean to.” – The Giver
11. “We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.” – The Giver
12. “They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.” – The Giver
13. “Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?” – The Giver
14. “It’s the choosing that’s important, isn’t it?” – The Giver
15. “I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid.” – The Giver
More The Giver Quotes
16. “If everything’s the same, then there aren’t any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!” – The Giver
17. “But there was nothing left to do but continue.” – The Giver
18. “When people have the freedom to choose, they choose wrong, every single time.” – The Giver
19. “The man I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing.” – The Giver
20. “Submitting to censorship is to enter the seductive world of ‘The Giver’: the world where there are no bad words and no bad deeds. But it is also the world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.” – The Giver
21. “They have never known pain, he thought. The realization made him feel desperately lonely.” – The Giver
22. “Always in the dream, it seemed as if there were a destination: a something–he could not grasp what-that lay beyond the place where the thickness of snow brought the sled to a stop. He was left, upon awakening, with the feeling that he wanted, even somehow needed, to reach the something that waited in the distance. The feeling that it was good. That it was welcoming. That it was significant. But he did not know how to get there.” – The Giver
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of snow quotes that celebrate the winter season.
23. “I knew that there had been times in the passt – terrible times – when people had destroyed others in haste, in fear, and had brought about their own destruction.” – The Giver
24. “He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. They were deeper and they did not need to be told. They were felt.” – The Giver
Lois Lowry, author of The Giver quotes
25. “It is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything.” – Lois Lowry
Which of these The Giver quotes is your favorite?
Life can be challenging, and we don’t usually like to experience painful things.
However, when you read The Giver quotes above and think of what life would be like living in that community, it can cause you to have a new appreciation for the ups and downs that life brings our way.
It also brings up an interesting question, can we really have the good without the bad?
Or do we need the full range of emotions and experiences in life to understand both sides?
If you’re looking for a book to read that will get you thinking, check out The Giver.
So, did you enjoy our collection of The Giver quotes and lines?
Which of the quotes is your favorite?
Let us know in the comment section below.