Fahrenheit 451 – quotations
Directions: Fahrenheit 451 is a novel about questioning authority. The quotations below are
some of the passages whose deeper meaning hint at the author’s warning for the reader. The
numbers in parentheses give the part and the section in which the quote may be found. Write
down the deeper meanings as you read along and be prepared to discuss the significance of each
quotation.
1. “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.” (epigraph)
2. “We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while.” (1,17)
3. “If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry
him.” (1,17)
4. “’It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death rather than
submit to break their eggs at the smaller end.’” (1,19)
5. “That’s the good part of dying; when you’ve nothing to lose, you run any risk you want.”
(2,4)
6. “He is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.” (2,6)
7. “. . . that’s the wonderful thing about man; he never gets so discouraged or disgusted that he
gives up doing it all over again, because he knows very well it is important and worth the
doing.” (3, 9)
8. “The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching. .
.” (3,11)
9. “But even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn’t use what we got out of
them. We went right on insulting the dead.” (3, 12)
10. And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits,
and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations. (3, 12)