Fahrenheit 451 Wisdom and Knowledge Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Paragraph)

Quote #7

He floated on his back when the valise filled and sank; the river was mild and leisurely, going away from the people who ate shadows for breakfast and steam for lunch and vapours for supper. The river was very real; it held him comfortably and gave him the time at last, the leisure, to consider this month, this year, and a lifetime of years. He listened to his heart slow. His thoughts stopped rushing with his blood. (3.229)

Remember when Mildred said that books weren’t real? Compare that to this passage, in which the river is "very real." Does this remind you of Faber’s claim that books matter because they show us the real fibers of life?

Quote #8

The sun burned every day. It burned Time. The world rushed in a circle and turned on its axis and time was busy burning the years and the people anyway, without any help from him. So if he burnt things with the firemen, and the sun burnt Time, that meant that everything burnt! (3.231)

This is the wisdom Montag gains in the course of the novel, that life is made of both constructive and destructive phases. He reads this in a passage of the Bible, of course, but it holds no meaning for him until he can experience it for himself.

Quote #9

He walked on the track.

And he was surprised to learn how certain he suddenly was of a single fact he could not prove.

Once, long ago, Clarisse had walked here, where he was walking now. (3.266-8)

Real wisdom isn’t learned from books or taught by others: it’s intuitive, self-taught.