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

When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

The Radley Place fascinated Dill. In spite of our warnings and explanations, it drew him as the moon draws water.

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.

She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, but by the time I had eaten my breakfast she was sulking.

Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds.”

Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs.

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns, was the bravest man who ever lived.

There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with.

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.

The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.

HAMLET: To be, or not to be, that is the question—

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.

MACBETH: Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

O’er half the world; nature seems dead.

LADY MACBETH: Unsex me here,

And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full

Of direst cruelty!

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;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Knowledge is power.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

I think, therefore I am.

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

To be human is to experience suffering.

Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

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

Nothing in nature is by chance. Something appears to be chance only because of our lack of understanding.

Hope is itself a species of happiness, and perhaps the chief happiness which this world affords.

The mind is furnished with ideas by experience alone.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty.

that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground.

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion.

to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides.

These nucleotides are composed of a sugar, a phosphate group, and one of four nitrogenous bases.

The sequence of these bases encodes genetic information.

The two strands form a double helix, held together by hydrogen bonds between complementary bases.

Adenine pairs with thymine, and cytosine pairs with guanine.

This structure allows DNA to replicate accurately during cell division.

Mutations occur when errors in replication change the base sequence.

Some mutations have no effect, while others can alter protein function.

Natural selection acts on phenotypic variations arising from such changes.

Genetic drift also influences allele frequencies in populations.

Over time, these mechanisms drive evolutionary change.

Understanding DNA is fundamental to modern biology and medicine.

Equal protection of the laws is not a license for judicial imposition of personal preferences.

The Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.

In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.

The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.

The arbitrary separation of citizens on the basis of race is unconstitutional.

Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

Segregation deprives children of equal protection under the law.

Education is the very foundation of good citizenship.

To separate children from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of race generates a feeling of inferiority.

Such feelings affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.

We conclude that segregation in public education violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

The doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place in the realm of public education.

I was born in the small village of Nkandla, in the heart of Zululand.

My father was a counselor to the royal family, a position of respect and responsibility.

From him, I learned the value of listening, of patience, and of service.

I herded cattle and fetched water, tasks that taught me discipline.

But even as a boy, I dreamed of freedom, not just for myself, but for my people.

At school, I was given the name Nelson, a common practice among missionaries.

I did not know then how much that name would come to define my destiny.

The air of Africa is thick with stories of resistance and resilience.

I heard tales of warriors who stood against empire, and I knew I had a role to play.

Freedom is not something that one person gives to another; it is something people take for themselves.

Even in prison, I carried that truth in my heart like a flame.

And when I walked out of that gate, I knew the struggle was not over—but the journey had come full circle.

“Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have.”

“We’re not going to reinvent the wheel every day. You know, we’re going to use the wheels that have already been invented.”

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” – @InspireDaily

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency.” – @MotivationHub

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – @DreamBig

“Your vibe attracts your tribe.” – @MindsetMatters

“Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done.” – @GrindNeverStops

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – @WisdomFeed

“Be the energy you want to attract.” – @PositiveVibesOnly

“Small steps every day lead to big results.” – @ProgressNotPerfection

“You don’t have to be perfect, just passionate.” – @HustleHeart

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – @GrowthMindset