Skip to main content

15 Lasting Quotes From The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Here are 15 lasting quotes from The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. In this post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son and their fight for survival, there are plenty of quotable moments.

Published on September 26, 2006, The Road is a post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy, the author of No Country for Old Men, All the Pretty Horses, and Blood Meridian. It is a survival story about a father and son who travel south, because the winters have grown too cold.

(Best Dystopian Novels for Writers.)

They live in a world that is nearly devoid of life (no birds, fish, or other living animals) and has broken down all social norms for the few people still living. However, the father and son protagonists in this novel fight to stay good and alive at the same time as they make their way to the coast.

Here are 15 quotes from Cormac McCarthy's The Road that cover survival, dreams, promises, and more.

15 lasting quotes from The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

"He tried to think of something to say but he could not. He'd had this feeling before, beyond the numbness and dull despair."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_he_tried_to_think_of_something_to_say_but_he_could_not

"I dont want anybody talking about me. To say where I was or what I said when I was there."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_i_dont_want_anybody_talking_about_me

"If you break little promises you'll break big ones."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_if_you_break_little_promises_youll_break_big_ones

*****

Build Your Novel Scene by Scene

If you want to learn how to write a story, but aren’t quite ready yet to hunker down and write 10,000 words or so a week, this is the course for you. Build Your Novel Scene by Scene will offer you the impetus, the guidance, the support, and the deadline you need to finally stop talking, start writing, and, ultimately, complete that novel you always said you wanted to write.

Click to continue.

*****

"Maybe he understood for the first time that to the boy he was himself an alien. A being from a planet that no longer existed."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_maybe_he_understood_for_the_first_time_that_to_the_boy_he_was_himself_an_alien

(15 quotes from Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.)

"Maybe you should always be on the lookout. If trouble comes when you least expect it then maybe the thing to do is to always expect it."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_maybe_you_should_always_be_on_the_lookout

"My job is to take care of you."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_my_job_is_to_take_care_of_you

"People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didnt believe in that. Tomorrow wasnt getting ready for them. It didnt even know they were there."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_people_were_always_getting_ready_for_tomorrow

"Some part of him always wished it to be over."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_some_part_of_him_always_wished_it_to_be_over

"The man could hear him playing. A formless music for the age to come. Or perhaps the last music on earth called up from out of the ashes of its ruin."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_the_man_could_hear_him_playing_a_formless_music_for_the_age_to_come

"The right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and of death."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_the_right_dreams_for_a_man_in_peril_were_dreams_peril_and_all_else_was_the_call_of_languor_and_of_death

"There was a good chance they would die in the mountains and that would be that."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_there_was_a_good_chance_they_would_die_in_the_mountains_and_that_would_be_that

(3 tips for writing cosmic horror that goes beyond.)

"This is what the good guys do. They keep trying."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_this_is_what_the_good_guys_do_they_keep_trying

"We're not survivors. We're the walking dead in a horror film."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_were_not_survivors_were_the_walking_dead_in_a_horror_film

"When we're all gone at last there'll be nobody here but death and his days will be numbered too. He'll be out in the road there with nothing to do and nobody to do it to."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_when_were_all_gone_at_last_therell_be_nobody_here_but_death_and_his_days_will_be_numbered_too

(12 thought-provoking quotes from 1984, by George Orwell.)

"Where you've nothing else construct ceremonies out of the air and breathe upon them."

cormac_mccarthy_the_road_quotes_where_youve_nothing_else_construct_ceremonies_out_of_the_air_and_breathe_upon_them
Why I Write: From Sartre to Recovery and Back Again, by Henriette Ivanans

Why I Write: From Sartre to Recovery and Back Again

Author Henriette Ivanans gets existential, practical, and inspirational while sharing why she writes, why she really writes.

5 Tips for Exploring Mental Health in Your Fiction, by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg

5 Tips for Exploring Mental Health in Your Fiction

Author Lisa Williamson Rosenberg shares her top five tips for exploring mental health in your fiction and how that connects to emotion.

Chelsea Iversen: Follow Your Instincts

Chelsea Iversen: Follow Your Instincts

In this interview, author Chelsea Iversen discusses the question she asks herself when writing a character-driven story, and her new historical fantasy novel, The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt.

Your Story #134

Your Story #134

Write a short story of 650 words or fewer based on the photo prompt. You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.

NovDec24_Breaking In

Breaking In: November/December 2024

Debut authors: How they did it, what they learned, and why you can do it, too.

Rosa Kwon Easton: On Fiction Helping Tell a True Family Story

Rosa Kwon Easton: On Fiction Helping Tell a True Family Story

In this interview, author Rosa Kwon Easton discusses the surprises she faced in tackling fiction for the first time with her new historical novel, White Mulberry.

Poetry Prompt

Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 720

Every Wednesday, Robert Lee Brewer shares a prompt and an example poem to get things started for poets. This week, write an undiscovered poem.

How to Portray Time and Memory in Stories, by Anita Felicelli

How to Portray Time and Memory in Stories

Author Anita Felicelli explains her process for portraying time and memory in stories, including examples from other authors.

online prompt 12:3

Listening In

Every writer needs a little inspiration once in a while. For today's prompt, start your story with someone listening in on someone else's conversation.