Earlier this year I began and (eagerly) finished the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I loved the books immensely and agree with all the hype. Few have Rowlings ability to grip the reader with every page and bring such a tapestry of rich themes, arcs, and characters to such a satisfying finish.

Here are my favorite quotes without comment from the first of the series, “Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

“I am a what?” gasped Harry. “A wizard! Of course! And a thumping good one I’d say once you’d been trained up a bit.”

“Ah music! A magic beyond all we do here.”

“The happiest man on earth would be able to use the mirror of Erised like a normal mirror that is. He would look into it and see himself exactly as he is…It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.”

“To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

“Humans do have a knack of choosing precisely the things that are the worst for them.”

“The truth?” Dumbledore sighed, “It is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution.”