Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Most Iconic Quotes
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) is a novel by English author Mary Shelley.
The book follows the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a living thing in an unorthodox scientific experiment.
Key Takeaways
- Mary Shelley started writing the novel when she was 18 years old.
- The first edition was published anonymously in 1818. Shelley’s name first appeared in the second edition, published in 1821.
- Often cited as one of the earliest examples of science fiction, the novel’s influence has spawned numerous horror stories, films, and other works.
Here are some of the most famous Frankenstein quotes about love, friendship, and isolation, along with their chapters and page numbers.
Table of Contents
Letters 1 and 2 Quotes
I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose – a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.(ed. 1831), Letter 1, Page 4
You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend.(ed. 1831), Letter 2, Page 7
Letters 3 and 4 Quotes
We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves – such a friend ought to be – do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures.(ed. 1831), Letter 4, Page 16
Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature.(ed. 1831), Letter 4, Page 16
Chapters 2 and 4 Quotes
Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin.(ed. 1831), Chapter 2, Page 28
With how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries.(ed. 1831), Chapter 4, Page 37
To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death.(ed. 1831), Chapter 4, Page 37
Chapters 8 and 9 Quotes
Nothing is more painful to the human mind, than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows, arid deprives the soul both of hope and fear.(ed. 1831), Chapter 9, Page 74
When falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?(ed. 1831), Chapter 9, Page 77
Chapters 10 and 16 Quotes
Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.(ed. 1831), Chapter 10, Page 83
I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.(ed. 1831), Chapter 10, Page 84
I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.(ed. 1831), Chapter 16, Page 126
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Chapters 17 and 20 Quotes
It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.(ed. 1831), Chapter 17, Page 127
How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!(ed. 1831), Chapter 20, Page 153
Chapters 23 and 24 Quotes
Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.(ed. 1831), Chapter 23, Page 177
The companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.(ed. 1831), Chapter 24, Page 191
The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.(ed. 1831), Chapter 24, Page 200
FAQs
"You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings."
"He was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance."
"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."