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Famous Quotes

From Lord Byron to Queen Beyoncé, humans say the darndest things. Shmoop has rounded up thousands of famous quotes that you can use to liven up the classroom.

Here are three quick tips to get the most out of the Famous Quotes section.

1. Help students hone their close reading skills.

We provide the context and some other fun deets (including our unique pretentious scale), but your students can really dig in with close reading. What rhetorical devices was JFK using in his famous 1960 Inaugural Address? What's the meter behind all those Dickinson poems?

Starting with our kooky content on quotes can help prepare your students to start digging a little deeper.

2. Show it to students as another source for research.

Where there's a Will, there's a (Heming)way. Are your students working on projects about specific authors, books, or topics? Starting with quotes is always a good way to get the ball rolling.

3. Encourage students to fact check.

"The British are coming!" Actually, no. They're not. Paul Revere never actually spoke that famous line. And, sorry, but Gandhi never actually said "You must be the the change you want to see in the world." (Cue: shocked faces and panicked emails to the yearbook editor about their senior pages.)

Once students see our list of famous misquotes they're much more likely to start fact checking any and all work they do. They wouldn't want to go all BrainyQuote, if you know what we mean.


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