There is no debate about it: is one of the most famous and successful writers in the world. While his name is synonymous with the horror genre, King is also known for his works of suspense, mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. Starting with his debut novel, , first published nearly 50 years ago, his books have sold more than 350 million copies. Over his career, King has received many accolades, including Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, British Fantasy Society Awards, the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and a National Medal of Arts.
With a number of iconic books like , , and , King has created dozens of legendary characters whose catchphrases and quotes immediately bring us back to his dark, eerie worlds whenever we hear them. And with tens of thousands of published pages to his name, there are certainly a lot of gems to choose from.
It is King's versatility, his skills as a writer, and his ability to tap into our fears that makes Uncle Stevie so eminently quotable. Even though King writes mainly terrifying books, his works are also full of wisdom, heart, humor, and compassion. He can be scaring your pants off one minute, and really making you think about humankind the next. Here are 50 of the best quotes from the master of the macabre: Stephen King.
1. "Some things it don’t pay to be curious about." —
2. "If being a kid is about learning how to live, then being a grown-up is about learning how to die." —
3. "A secret needs two faces to bounce between; a secret needs to see itself in another pair of eyes." —
4. "The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool." —
5. "Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty." —
6. "We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones." —
7. "We lie best when we lie to ourselves." —
8. "And almost idly, in a kind of side-thought, Eddie discovered one of his childhood’s great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought." —
9. "The world has teeth and it can bite you with them any time it wants." —
10. "A person who doesn’t learn from the past is an idiot, in my estimation." —
