“The Catcher in the Rye” an American novel by J.D. Salinger deals with themes like teenage angst, alienation and societal superficiality through the experiences of the iconic protagonist Holden Caulfield.
The story follows Holden’s life shortly before Christmas starting at his boarding school Pencey Prep where he’s expelled.
His journey takes him to New York where he grapples with personal loss. relationships and his virginity often feeling disconnected and critical of the ‘phonies’ around him.
The plot includes Holden’s interactions with various characters including his date Sally old classmate Carl and his younger sister Phoebe whom he deeply cares about.
His inner turmoil leads him to fantasize about saving children from falling off a cliff a metaphor for his desire to protect innocence.
The novel concludes with Holden’s contemplation of his future and his affection for those he leaves behind.
“The Catcher in the Rye” has gained significant acclaim being listed as one of the best English-language novels and selling over 65 million copies worldwide.
Here are the best quotes from The Catcher in the Rye book by J.D. Salinger.
Best The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
The catcher in the rye… that’s all I really want to be… ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I know. I’m very hard to talk to. I realize that. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
People always clap for the wrong reasons. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
All morons hate it when you call them a moron. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she’s late? ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I was surrounded by phonies…They were coming in the goddam window. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
You can’t stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I hate actors. They never act like people. They just think they do. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Also read: Fox in Socks Quotes by Dr. Seuss and Green Eggs and Ham Quotes by Dr. Seuss.
Famous The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
I can be quite sarcastic when I’m in the mood. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
People are always ruining things for you. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I think if you don’t really like a girl, you shouldn’t horse around with her at all, and if you do like her, then you’re supposed to like her face, and if you like her face, you ought to be careful about doing crumby stuff to it, like squirting water all over it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It’s really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
But what I mean is, lots of time you don’t know what interests you most till you start talking about something that doesn’t interest you most. I mean you can’t help it sometimes. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
The goddam movies. They can ruin you. I’m not kidding. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I don’t give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am – I really do – but people never notice it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I was trying to feel some kind of good-bye. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t you feel even worse. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Popular The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
She was terrific to hold hands with. Most girls if you hold hands with them, their goddam hand dies on you, or else they think they have to keep moving their hand all the time, as if they were afraid they’d bore you or something. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It’s really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I think that one of these days… you’re going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you’ve got to start going there. But immediately. You can’t afford to lose a minute. Not you. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Almost every time someone gives me a present, it ends up making me sad. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything, and you felt like you were disappearing every time you crossed a road. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
If you weren’t around, I’d probably be someplace way the hell off. In the woods or some goddamn place. You’re the only reason I’m around, practically. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It always smelled like it was raining outside, even if it wasn’t, and you were in the only nice, dry, cozy place in the world. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It’s awful. If I’m on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I’m going, I’m liable to say I’m going to the opera. It’s terrible. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wished I was dead. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Top The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
That’s something that annoys the hell out of me- I mean if somebody says the coffee’s all ready and it isn’t. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It’s not too bad when the sun’s out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I know he’s dead! Don’t you think I know that? I can still like him though, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead, you don’t just stop liking them for God’s sake – especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’re alive and all. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
People never notice anything. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It’s partly true, too, but it isn’t all true. People always think something’s all true. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
If you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you got to hate everybody in the world, I swear you did. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I can’t explain what I mean. And even if I could, I’m not sure I’d feel like it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I wouldn’t exactly describe her as strictly beautiful. She knocked me out, though. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Don’t tell people what you are thinking, or you will miss them terribly when you are away. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Grand. There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony. I could puke every time I hear it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Great The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I’d probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round… ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much though. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I don’t even know what I was running for – I guess I just felt like it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Real ugly girls have it tough. I feel so sorry for them sometimes. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
All you knew was, you were happy. You really were. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Thoughtful The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
That’s the whole trouble. When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Some people you shouldn’t kid, even if they deserve it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
That’s the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they’re not much to look at, or even if they’re sort of stupid, you fall in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They drive you crazy. They really can. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
The more expensive a school is, the more crooks it has – I’m not kidding. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I like it when somebody gets excited about something. It’s nice. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
If I were a piano player, I’d play it in the goddamn closet. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I am always saying ‘Glad to’ve met you’ to somebody I’m not all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
I don’t exactly know what I mean by that, but I mean it. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
Mothers are all slightly insane. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
If you do something too good, then after a while, if you don’t watch it, you start showing off. And then you’re not as good any more. ~ The Catcher in the Rye.
So these were the 65 top The Catcher in the Rye quotes by J.D. Salinger.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other articles on Death of a Salesman book quotes and The Perks of Being a Wallflower book quotes.
