100+ MLA Long Quote Examples: Perfect Copywriting & Citation Guide

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness... all these things were going to be explained to me in good time.

He looked up at the vast dome of space. It was a night sky presiding over the silence like a benign god.

The world was full of people whose demands on you took the shape of screams; but there was no one who simply asked you to understand.

She stood by the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains, and in her nostrils was the odor of dusty cretonne.

I am not sure that I believe in God. But if He exists, I hope He has the humility to apologize to Napoleon.

We passed the school, where children strove / At recess—in the ring— / We passed the fields of gazing grain— / We passed the setting sun—

There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and champagne.

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

He was so terrible that I thought he was going to murder me. But instead, he sat down and wept.

Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future, / And time future contained in time past.

The sea did not like to be restrained. It never had been, not even by the Romans with all their engineering.

It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.

Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.

Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to judge of the divine will as if it resembled the justice of men.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Existence precedes essence.

Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.

What is rational is actual; and what is actual is rational.

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Everything that exists is good insofar as it exists.

Freedom is the recognition of necessity.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed...

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets...

Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden...

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

I regret to say that we of the Cherokee Nation are on the verge of becoming strangers in our own land.

Liberty cannot be established without equality; nor equality without virtue.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

DNA normally exists as a double helix, where two strands are wound around each other in a right-handed spiral.

Natural selection is a process that results in the adaptation of organisms to their environment by means of preserving...

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics explaining the behavior of matter and energy at atomic scales.

The brain is wider than the sky, for, put them side by side, the one the other will contain.

Climate change represents one of the most significant challenges to global sustainability in the 21st century.

Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, leading to psychological stress.

The universe is not only stranger than we suppose, but stranger than we can suppose.

Inflation refers to the general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money over time.

Photosynthesis converts light energy into chemical energy stored in glucose, using carbon dioxide and water.

The concept of dark matter arose to explain gravitational effects that cannot be accounted for by visible mass.

Language acquisition in children follows a predictable developmental trajectory across cultures.

Because I could not stop for Death – / He kindly stopped for me – / The Carriage held but just Ourselves – / And Immortality.

I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o'er vales and hills, / When all at once I saw a crowd, / A host, of golden daffodils.

Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate: / Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May...

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, / In the forests of the night; / What immortal hand or eye, / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; / I know the voices dying with a dying fall / Beneath the music from a farther room.

Hope is the thing with feathers / That perches in the soul, / And sings the tune without the words, / And never stops at all.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.

My love is like a red, red rose / That's newly sprung in June; / My love is like the melody / That's sweetly played in tune.

Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for You / As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend...

I arise from dreams of thee / In the first sweet sleep of night, / When the winds are breathing low...

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done, / The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won...

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish...

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters...

Love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord.

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled...

Allah! There is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence.

Recite in the name of your Lord who created— / Created man from a clinging substance. / Recite, and your Lord is the Most Generous.

The pure in heart are blessed, for they shall see God.

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.

An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

We must not allow other people’s perceptions to define us.

In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Silence becomes betrayal when justice is at stake.

Here's looking at you, kid.

I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.

Life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you're gonna get.

You can't handle the truth!

May the Force be with you.

I'll be back.

Why so serious?

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

You talking to me? Well, who the hell else are you talking to?

I am your father.

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

Imagine all the people sharing all the world. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better.

I can't get no satisfaction. I can't get no girl reaction.

We found love in a hopeless place.

I will always love you. I will always love you.

Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling.

We are the champions, my friends, and we'll keep on fighting till the end.

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.

Shake it off, I'm gonna shake it off.

Rolling in the deep, waves crashing in my head.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

Dear Friend, I write to you not only with ink, but with longing, with memory, and with hope.

If I should lose this letter, I would still carry its words in my heart.

Each time I sit down to write, I feel closer to you, though miles may separate us.

Your last letter arrived like sunlight breaking through clouds.

I often reread your words when loneliness creeps in.

This paper bears the weight of emotions too deep for speech.

Though I cannot hold your hand, I hold your words tightly.

A letter is a mirror of the soul; I trust you see mine clearly.

Writing to you feels like speaking into the wind and trusting it reaches you.

Even if this letter never arrives, I needed to tell you this.

You asked how I’ve been. The truth is, I miss you more than words can say.

Please write soon. Your letters are the highlight of my week.