58 Quotes About Harry Dresden

Harry Dresden, a professional wizard and the protagonist of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files, is a larger-than-life character with a lot of personality. One of his defining characteristics is his ability to be as snarky as he wants, as we’ve compiled a list of quotes from his books that should fire you up.

1
Love is another kind of power, which shouldn't surprise you. Magic comes from emotions, among other things. And when two people are together, in that intimacy, when they really, selflessly love each other it changes them both. It lingers on in the energy of their lives, even when they are apart. Jim Butcher
2
You can have everything in the world, but if you don't have love, none of it means crap, " he said promptly. "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love always forgives, trusts, supports, and endures. Love never fails. When every star in the heavens grows cold, and when silence lies once more on the face of the deep, three things will endure: faith, hope, and love." And the greatest of these is love, " I finished. "That's from the Bible." First Corinthians, chapter thirteen, " Thomas confirmed. "I paraphrased. Father makes all of us memorize that passage. Like when parents put those green yucky-face stickers on the poisonous cleaning products under the kitchen sink. . Jim Butcher
Life would be unbearably dull if we had answers to...
3
Life would be unbearably dull if we had answers to all our questions. Jim Butcher
4
Pain is a byproduct of life. That’s the truth. Life sometimes sucks. That’s true for everyone. But if you don’t face the pain and the suck, you don’t ever get the other things either. Laughter. Joy. Love. Pain passes, but those things are worth fighting for. Worth dying for. Jim Butcher
There are things you can't walk away from. Not if...
5
There are things you can't walk away from. Not if you want to live with yourself afterward. Jim Butcher
6
It isn't good to hold on too hard to the past. You can't spend your whole life looking back. Not even when you can't see what lies ahead. All you can do is keep on keeping on, and try to believe that tomorrow will be what it should be–even if it isn't what you expected. Jim Butcher
7
I don't want to live in a world where the strong rule and the weak cower. I'd rather make a place where things are a little quieter. Where trolls stay the hell under their bridges and where elves don't come swooping out to snatch children from their cradles. Where vampires respect the limits, and where the faeries mind their p's and q's. My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk. When things get strange, when what goes bump in the night flicks on the lights, when no one else can help you, give me a call. I'm in the book. Jim Butcher
I'm dealing with a lot of scary things. I think...
8
I'm dealing with a lot of scary things. I think you have to react to them. And you either laugh at them or you go insane. Jim Butcher
9
We are not going to die." Butters stared up at me, pale, his eyes terrified. "We're not?" "No. And do you know why?" He shook his head. "Because Thomas is too pretty to die. And because I'm too stubborn to die." I hauled on the shirt even harder. "And most of all because tomorrow is Oktoberfest, Butters, and polka will never die. Jim Butcher
In the name of the Pizza Lord. Charge!
10
In the name of the Pizza Lord. Charge! Jim Butcher
11
I died. I died and someone made a clerical error and I am in Heaven. Jim Butcher
I still can't believe,
12
I still can't believe, " Michael said, sotto voce, "that you came to the Vampires' Masquerade Ball dressed as a vampire. Jim Butcher
Ack!
13
Ack! " I said. Fearless master of the witty dialogue, that's me. Jim Butcher
14
I'd made the vampire cry. Great. I felt like a real superhero. Harry Dresden, breaker of monsters' hearts. Jim Butcher
She frowned at me.
15
She frowned at me. "You need some rest. You look like hell. And you're obviously tired enough to have gotten the giggles." Wizards don't giggle, " I said, hardly able to speak. "This is cackling. Jim Butcher
16
I’ve had a tense couple of days. And I’ve got to tell you, burning someone’s face off sounds like a great way to relax. Jim Butcher
I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of...
17
I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of people might have mistaken it for a sudden yelp of unmanly fear, but trust me. It was a battle cry. Jim Butcher
It came charging toward me, several hundred pounds of angry-looking...
18
It came charging toward me, several hundred pounds of angry-looking monster, and I did the only thing any reasonable wizard could have done. I turned around and ran like hell. Jim Butcher
19
How long have you been a Wiccan?''A what?'' A pagan. A witch.'' I'm not a witch, ' I said, glancing out the door. 'I'm a wizard.' Sanya frowned. 'What is the difference?'' Wizard has a Z'He looked at me blankly.' No one appreciates me.' I muttered. Jim Butcher
You rush a miracle worker, you get lousy miracles!
20
You rush a miracle worker, you get lousy miracles! Jim Butcher
21
Murphy hung up and I said, to the still-open line, "Hey, if you've got someone watching my place, could you call the cops if anyone tries to steal my Star Wars poster? It's an original." Then I vindictively hung up on the FBI. It made my inner child happy. Jim Butcher
If I was on the road to Hell, at least...
22
If I was on the road to Hell, at least I was going in style. Jim Butcher
In the action business, when you don't want to say...
23
In the action business, when you don't want to say you ran like a mouse, you call it 'taking cover.' It's more heroic. Jim Butcher
Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic,...
24
Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench. Jim Butcher
Hell's bells, irony blows.
25
Hell's bells, irony blows. Jim Butcher
I love being a wizard. Every day is like Disneyland.
26
I love being a wizard. Every day is like Disneyland. Jim Butcher
27
Beside me, Molly rolled her shoulders in a few jerky motions and pushed at her hair in fitful little gestures. She tugged at her well-tattered skirts, and grimaced at her boots. "Can you see if there’s any mud on them?" I paused to consider her for a second. Then I said, "You have two tattoos showing right now, and you probably used a fake ID to get them. Your piercings would set off any metal detector worth the name, and you’re featuring them in parts of your anatomy your parents wish you didn’t yet realize you had. You’re dressed like Frankenhooker, and your hair has been dyed colors I previously thought existed only in cotton candy.” I turned to face the door again. “I wouldn’t waste time worrying about a little mud on the boots. . Jim Butcher
Heroism doesn't pay very well. I try to be cold-blooded...
28
Heroism doesn't pay very well. I try to be cold-blooded and money-oriented, but I keep screwing it up. Jim Butcher
A succubus on the set. Strike that, the health-conscious kid...
29
A succubus on the set. Strike that, the health-conscious kid sister made it two… succubuses. Succubusees? Succubi? Stupid Latin correspondence course. Jim Butcher
30
I realized then what had happened. She had turned us--all of us, except for Mouse--into great, gaunt, long-legged hounds. Wonderful! " Lea said, pirouetting upon one toe, laughing. "Come, children! " And she leapt off into the jungle, nimble and swift as a doe. A bunch of us dogs stood around for a moment, just sort of staring at one another.. Jim Butcher
Laughter is good for you. Nine out of ten stand-up...
31
Laughter is good for you. Nine out of ten stand-up comedians recommend laughter in the face of intense stupidity. Jim Butcher
See? This is why I'm not religious. I couldn't possibly...
32
See? This is why I'm not religious. I couldn't possibly keep my mouth shut long enough to get along with everyone else. Jim Butcher
Hope is a force of nature. Don't let anyone tell...
33
Hope is a force of nature. Don't let anyone tell you different. Jim Butcher
Knowledge is the ultimate weapon. It always has been.
34
Knowledge is the ultimate weapon. It always has been. Jim Butcher
You don't go walking into the proverbial lion's den lightly....
35
You don't go walking into the proverbial lion's den lightly. You start with a good breakfast. Jim Butcher
36
Sometimes I forget how much I like riding the bike." Most chicks do, " I said. "Roar of the engine and so on." Murphy's blue eyes glittered with annoyance and anticipation. "Pig. You really enjoy dropping all women together in the same demographic, don't you?" It's not my fault all women like motorcycles, Murph. They're basically huge vibrators. With wheels. Jim Butcher
Do you have a little white dress? I've had this...
37
Do you have a little white dress? I've had this deep-seated nurse fantasy about you, Murphy. Jim Butcher
Gruff, ” I said, “I find myself largely clueless about...
38
Gruff, ” I said, “I find myself largely clueless about why mortal women do what they do. It will take a wiser man than me to understand what’s in a fae woman’s mind. Jim Butcher
39
Time after time, history demonstrates that when people don't want to believe something, they have enormous skills of ignoring it altogether. Jim Butcher
40
Every soul is special. They’re all beautiful. They’re all far more significant than anyone on this rock realizes. I think when people are at their best, they’re acting in accordance with their soul. The ones who have gone bad don’t have bad souls. They’ve just given up on keeping in touch with them. Jim Butcher
41
Jobs are a part of life. Maybe you've heard of the concept. It's called work? See, what happens is that you suffer through doing annoying and humiliating things until you get paid not enough money. Like those Japanese game shows, only without all the glory. Jim Butcher
42
Pain isn’t a lot of fun, at least not for most folks, but it is utterly unique to life. Pain – physical, emotional, and otherwise – is the shadow cast by everything you want out of life, the alternative to the result you were hoping for, and the inevitable creator of strength. From the pain of our failures we learn to be better, stronger, greater than what we were before. Pain is there to tell us when we’ve done something badly–it’s a teacher, a guide, one that is always there to both warn us of our limitations and challenge us to overcome them. For something no one likes, pain does us a whole hell of a lot of good. Jim Butcher
43
Being a wizard gives you more power than most, but it doesn't change your heart. We're all human. We're all of us equally naked before the jaws of pain. Jim Butcher
44
Like I said, magic comes from life, and especially from emotions. They're a source of the same intangible energy that everyone can feel when an autumn moon rises and fills you with a sudden sense of bone-deep excitement, or when the first warm breeze of spring rushes past your face, full of the scents of life, and drowns you in a sudden flood of unreasoning joy. The passion of mighty music that brings tears to your eyes, and the raw, bubbling, infectious laughter of small children at play, the bellowing power of a stadium full of football fans shouting "Hey! " in time to that damned song–they're all charged with magic. My magic comes from the same places. And maybe from darker places than that. Fear is an emotion, too. So is rage. So is lust. And madness. I'm not a particularly good person. I'm no Charles Manson or anything, but I'm not going to be up for canonization either. Though in the past, I think maybe I was a better person than I am today. In the past I hadn't seen so many people hurt and killed and terrorized by the same kind of power that damn well should have been making the world a nicer place, or at the least staying the hell away from it. I hadn't made so many mistakes back then, so many shortsighted decisions, some of which had cost people their lives. I had been sure of myself. I had been whole. . Jim Butcher
45
I love you." Why it worked right then, why the webbing of my godmother's spell frayed as though the words had been an open flame, I don't know. I haven't found any explanation for it. There aren't any magical words, really. The words just hold the magic. They give it a shape and a form, they make it useful, describe the images within. I'll say this, though: Some words have a power that has nothing to do with supernatural forces. They resound in the heart and mind, they live long after the sounds of them have died away, they echo in the heart and the soul. They have power, and that power is very real. Those three words are good ones. Jim Butcher
46
I didn't want to believe that killing was deep inside of me. I didn't want to think about the part of me that took a dark joy in gathering all the power it could and using it as I saw fit, everything else be damned. There was power to be had in hatred, too, in anger and in lust, in selfishness and in pride. And I knew that there was some dark corner of me that would enjoy using magic for killing–and then long for more. That was black magic, and it was easy to use. Easy and fun. Like Legos. . Jim Butcher
47
Technically, ' I said, "I'm not breaking any of the Laws of Magic. I'm not robbing you of your will, so I'm clear of the Fourth Law. And you didn't get loose, so I'm clear of the Seventh Law. The Council can bite me.' The bone ridges above Chauncy's eyes twitched. 'Surely, that is merely a colorful euphemism, rather than a statement of desire.'' It is. Jim Butcher
48
Seedy wasn't a fair description for the place, because seeds imply eventual regrowth and renewal. Jim Butcher
49
It doesn't make you a monster to want, she said, her voice very gentle. It's what you do with it that matters. Jim Butcher
50
You predicted quick victory. Now it’s going to get hopelessly complicated. Jesus, don’t you know any better than that by now? Jim Butcher
51
Vanity, thy name is vampire. Jim Butcher
52
So we get a plan, " I said. "Any suggestions?"" Blow up the building, " Kincaid said without looking up. "That works good for vampires. Then soak what's left in gasoline. Set it on fire. Then blow it all up again."" For future reference, I was sort of hoping for a suggestion that didn't sound like it came from that Bolshevik Muppet with all the dynamite. Jim Butcher
53
There should be a rule against your own inner monologue throwing around that much sarcasm. Jim Butcher
54
Just remember that you're on my list, Marcone. Soon as I get done with all the other evils in this town, you won't be the lesser of them anymore." Marcone stared at me with half-lidded eyes and said, "Eek. Jim Butcher
55
Maybe, ” he said in a slow, rural drawl, “you could explain to me why I found you in the middle of an orgy.” “Well, ” I said, “if you’re going to be in an orgy, the middle is the best spot, isn’t it. Jim Butcher
56
Dresden’s not gone, ” I said. I touched a hand lightly to my brow. “He’s here.” I touched Will’s bare chest, on the left side. “Here. Without him, without what he’s done over the years, you and I would never have been able to pull this off.”“ No, ” he agreed. “Probably not. Definitely not.”“ There are a lot of people he’s taught. Trained. Defended. And he’s been an example. No single one of us can ever be what he was. But together, maybe we can. Jim Butcher
57
Something like this will test you like nothing else, " Mac said. "You're going to find out who you are, Harry. You're going to find out which principles you'll stand by to your death--and which lines you'll cross." He took my empty glass away and said, "You're heading into the badlands. It'll be easy to get lost. Jim Butcher