The Harry Potter series has been influential to both young and adult readers since the publication of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in 1997. The first generation of children engaging with J.K. Rowling’s fantastic world is now in their 20s or 30s, but the books continue to be equally appealing to younger children today as do After over 20 years, it looks like the Harry Potter mania is not going to fade anytime soon.
As in a perfectly mixed potion, the Harry Potter books have all the right ingredients, in the right dosage and amount, to appeal to readers all over the world. First, magical creatures inhabiting a fantastic parallel reality create a sense of wonder, encouraging readers to see magic in the everyday. Second, the boarding school setting, in which a wide variety of insightful characters have to deal with schoolwork, friendship, and social relations, represents a physical and psychological environment that everybody can relate to. Finally, lots of adventure, action, and plot twists, which grip readers’ attention and make them forget about their basic needs, such as eating and sleeping.
However, what makes the Harry Potter books really special is how common problems, issues and difficulties are translated into a more understandable language and made easier to deal with in real life. Harry Potter taught children and adults about the importance of making choices while considering their consequences, practicing kindness and courage, but also acknowledging and embracing fear and pain in order to overcome them. This is the real key to Harry Potter’s success: it shows its readers that feelings make us who we are and ultimately human, and whether they are positive or negative, we should always try to understand them, in order to improve.
Albus Dumbledore is probably the strongest advocate of this message throughout the series, and this is why we have selected ten of the best Harry Potter quotes from the character everybody wishes could be their grandfather:
1. “Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
2. “There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
3. “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowing
4. “But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
5. “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
6. “Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
7. “Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young…”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
8. “Don’t count your owls before they are delivered.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
9. “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
10. “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
Want even more Harry Potter? Check out this Harry Potter Box Set.
And if you love literary quotes, check out our Peter Pan Quotes and Alice in Wonderland Quotes too!)
