Unforgettable last words
The best endings can pack a punch, whether the last lines are thought-provoking or masterfully tie off the plot. And it’s true for many books that the final lines can be just as impactful as the opening ones.
Last words often leave you with a sense of completion — and the great ones can capture the core of the entire story.
Last lines come in all shapes and sizes: short and long, mysterious and predictable. Here, I’ve gathered fifteen of the best last lines in fiction, from modern books to classic literature. Is your favourite final sentence in the list?
1
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

2
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
“He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.”

3
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
“It’s funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”

4
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
“It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.”

5
The Green Mile
Stephen King
“We each owe a death, there are no exceptions, I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long.”

6
The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold
“I wish you all a long and happy life.”

7
Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell
“He loved Big Brother.”

8
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky
“So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you. Love always, Charlie.”

9
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott
“Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this.”

10
Stardust
Neil Gaiman
“She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.”

11
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
“Are there any questions?”

12
Legend
Marie Lu
“We lie there together, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder, and waiting for the beginning of a rainy dawn.”

13
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J.K. Rowling
“The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.”

14
Animal Farm
George Orwell
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

15
The Time Traveler's Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
“He is coming, and I am here.”
