1. At the beginning of the novel, Mildred overdoses on sleeping pills, and emergency technicians revive her in the middle of the night. Mildred has her stomach pumped, and she receives a blood transfusion. The next morning, Mildred feels extremely hungry and cannot recall anything from the previous night. When Montag tells her that she overdosed on sleeping pills, Mildred responds by saying,

I wouldn't do a thing like that. Why would I do a thing like that? (Bradbury, 8).

Mildred's response reveals her lack of perspective and self-awareness. Similar to the person Montag was before he met Clarisse, Mildred has no idea that she hates her life. She is obsessed with consuming entertainment, and she has no idea that she tried to commit suicide.

2. Mildred then begins to talk about her parlor wall interactive television shows that she is addicted to watching. She reveals her lack of sympathy for her family's financial security and shows that she only cares about her television shows by telling Montag,

How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It's only two thousand dollars (Bradbury, 9).

3. When Montag petitions his wife for help reading books in order to find out if there is anything worth understanding in them, Mildred kicks a pile of novels and says,

Books aren't people. You read and I look around, but there isn't anybody! . . . Now. . . my "family" is people. They tell me things; I laugh, they laugh! And the colours! (Bradbury, 34).

Clearly, Mildred's definition of substance and fulfilling entertainment is laughing at colored television screens. She shows no interest in reading, and she prefers staring at her parlor walls all day.

4. When Montag arrives home, he turns off the parlor wall televisions, which upsets Mildred and her friends. She then realizes that Montag wants to make a point about literature and grabs a book. Mildred then tells Montag,

Here! Read this one. No, I take it back. Here's that real funny one you read out loud today. Ladies, you won't understand a word. It goes umpty-tumpty-ump. Go ahead, Guy, that page, dear (Bradbury, 47).

The fact that Mildred told Montag to read a rather melancholic, insightful poem titled "Dover Beach" illustrates her lack of understanding and intelligence.

In Fahrenheit 451, Mildred is Montag's wife, and her character symbolizes the dangers of censorship and anti-education policies. With this in mind, here are a few of Mildred's most important quotes.

In Part One of the novel, for example, Mildred takes an overdose of sleeping pills and almost dies. Her complete denial of what happened (to Montag) demonstrates her level of emotional repression:

"Heck," she said, "what would I want to go and do a silly thing like that for?"

Also in Part One, Mildred acknowledges her misery but tries to convince Montag that entertainment in the form of reckless driving is the answer, not reading books:

"I always like to drive fast when I feel that way. You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful. Sometimes I drive all night and come back and you don't know it. It's fun out in the country. You hit rabbits, sometimes you hit dogs."

Furthermore, when Montag is sick and asks Mildred to turn down the parlour walls, she refuses and reveals how she really feels about watching these shows:

"That's my family."

Finally, Mildred's love for the parlour walls supersedes all other considerations, even the cost. When she begs Montag for a fourth wall, we get a sense of her need to escape everyday life:

"If we had a fourth wall, why it'd be just like this room wasn't ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people's rooms."

I like this quote that occurs between Montag and Mildred in chapter 1.  In my copy of the book, it is on page 25.  

"Let me alone," said Mildred. "I didn't do anything." 

"Let you alone! That's all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?" 

The quote shows just how emotionless the entire society has become.  Everybody medicates their emotional state or represses it with TV and music from the seashells.  Montag is pointing out that in order to know and feel what true happiness is, a person has to experience sadness or anger and vice versa.  Mildred simply never feels anything.  

I also like this next quote from Mildred.  It is on page 34 of my copy.  

Mildred kicked at a book. "Books aren't people. You read and I look around, but there isn't anybody!"

I find the quote laughably ironic coming from Mildred.  She spends most of her waking minutes watching TV characters and stories.  They are fiction stories.  They are not about real people.  Montag could say the same thing to Mildred that she just said about books to Montag.  He looks around, and there isn't anybody real that she is watching and spending time with.  

What are some quotes that show being free or freedom in Fahrenheit 451?

Montag is fortunate to meet Clarisse early in the book, as she opens up to him how numb his life has become. He might have a high status job, but his life has become one of routinized conformity. Listening to her talk about what she does, which shows she has freed herself to live on her own terms, Montag is struck with the realization of his own unhappiness and lack of freedom. She says to him:

I rarely watch the 'parlour walls' or go to races or Fun Parks. So I've lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess.

Clarisse's words shows she lives freely, or as Beatty will later say, is a misfit who asks too many questions. All through the book, Beatty tries to frame freedom as a burden and a problem. Nevertheless, Montag's encounter with Clarisse radicalizes him, and he pursues his own path from then on, primarily the freedom to read and think.

Granger counsels Montag on freedom after he escapes the city and the Mechanical Hound. He says you can't force people to accept your ideas. It has to come from free choice:

But you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them.

Granger also advises Montag to embrace a radical freedom. This is the opposite of the security Montag's old society offered him in exchange for his freedom to think, question, or forge his own path:

Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal.

After the atomic blast destroys his city, Montag thinks about how free he and the other men are who have memorized books. He is excited by the prospect of the life ahead, even if it will be harder than the life he is leaving behind:

We'll just start walking today and see the world and the way the world walks around and talks, the way it really looks. I want to see everything now.

What are some quotes that show being free or freedom in Fahrenheit 451?

In this classic novel by Ray Bradbury, the government censors books and prohibits intellectualism. The novel's antagonist, Captain Beatty, is a staunch proponent of censorship and conformity. During a conversation with Montag, Captain Beatty tells him,

A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?

Books, and everything they convey, represent intellectual freedom and personal expression, both of which threaten the government's authoritative reign. Beatty comparing a book to a loaded gun emphasizes the lack of freedom in Bradbury's dystopia.

During a conversation with Professor Faber, Montag is told,

Books can be beaten down with reason. But with all my knowledge and skepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full color, three dimensions, and I being in and part of those incredible parlors.

According to Faber, reading and exercising one's intellect is the epitome of personal freedom. While reading, individuals exercise their freedom of thought, which is something that cannot happen while watching the distracting, loud parlor walls. The parlor walls and mainstream media are the government's way of suppressing intellectualism and limiting personal freedoms.

Professor Faber also elaborates on the importance of independent thought by telling Montag,

But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority.

Individuality is an extension and expression of personal freedom, which is oppressed by the authoritative regime. Faber encourages Montag to exercise his individuality by challenging the government and warns him about becoming a passive, thoughtless member of the majority. Fortunately, Montag takes Faber’s advice and ends up fleeing the dystopian nation to exercise his individuality among the traveling intellectuals.

What are some quotes that show being free or freedom in Fahrenheit 451?

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, freedom is a theme that is explored and contrasted with the heavily oppressed lives that the characters of Fahrenheit 451 live.

On page 150, Granger passionately says to the novel's protagonist, Montag, “Stuff your eyes with wonder . . . live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.”

Through this declaration, Granger speaks to the need for the human spirit to experience a freedom that cannot be constructed by a ruling state or corporation. He implores Montag to experience the freedom that exists in the hearts and minds of every person, should that person choose to unchain himself from the shackles of an oppressive society and truly experience the natural beauty of the world around him.

On page 52, Mildred implores Montag to leave her alone, and, in turn, Montag replies: “Let you alone! That’s all very well, but how can I leave myself alone? We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”

Montag is lamenting the lack of meaning in his controlled life. He speaks to the need for humans to be able to be affected by, and react to, their environments. In Montag's life, his ability to be impacted in meaningful ways by the world is stifled by an oppressive state. In order for an individual to be free, one must be able to experience true meaning in life.

On pages 84–85, Faber tells Montag that there are three things necessary to change the world. He asserts that "Number one, as I said: quality of information. Number two: leisure to digest it. And number three: the right to carry out actions based on what we learn from the interaction of the first two."

This quote is significant to the theme of freedom in the novel, as Faber speaks to the importance of the freedom to receive uncensored information, the freedom to consider this information, and the freedom to carry out actions in response to information.

What are some of the best censorship quotes of Fahrenheit 451?

1. When Montag arrives at a crime scene to destroy a woman's illegal library in Part One, Montag is terrified to discover that she is home and refuses to leave her library of books. Captain Beatty and his men are there to censor her illegal library and tells the woman,

"You know the law...Where's your common sense? None of those books agree with each other. You've been locked up here for years with a regular damned Tower of Babel. Snap out of it! The people in those books never lived. Come on now!" (Bradbury, 18).

Captain Beatty not only mentions the censorship law but also gives the reader insight into his personal bias against literature, which fuels his passion for burning books.

2. In a conversation with Montag in Part One, Captain Beatty explains to him the history of the fireman institution and elaborates on the importance of censoring literature. Beatty explains to Montag that censorship was a way to make people happy by preventing controversial authors from criticizing their superficial society. Captain Beatty goes on to explain that people stopped reading on their own accord long before the fireman institution was established. Since the majority of the population favored censorship, the government developed the fireman institution to completely eradicate literature from society. One of the most well-known quotes in the novel that applies to the censorship laws of Bradbury's dystopian society is when Captain Beatty tells Montag,

"So! A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind" (Bradbury, 28).

By comparing a book to a loaded gun, Beatty emphasizes society's perception of literature, which coincides with the government's censorship policy.

3. In Part Two, Montag visits Faber's home and gains further insight into the fireman institution and their destructive society. Faber proceeds to comment on the government's censorship laws by telling Montag,

"The whole culture's shot through. The skeleton needs melting and re-shaping. Good God, it isn't as simple as just picking up a book you laid down half a century ago. Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord. You firemen provide a circus now and then at which buildings are set off and crowds gather for the pretty blaze, but it's a small sideshow indeed, and hardly necessary to keep things in line" (Bradbury, 41).

Faber essentially confirms Beatty's earlier statements regarding the fireman institution by telling Montag that the censorship laws are a result of the public's contempt for literature and criticism.

What are some of the best censorship quotes of Fahrenheit 451?

One way to go about this task would be to find a complete copy of the text online and then do a word search (CTRL-F) for the word "book." Interestingly enough, the words "censor" and "censorship" only occur twice in the novel. Such a search will bring up gems like these. In the following passage, Montag describes the process of burning books.

"You weren't hurting anyone, you were hurting only things! And since things really couldn't be hurt, since things felt nothing, and things don't scream or whimper, as this woman might begin to scream and cry out, there was nothing to tease your conscience later. You were simply cleaning up. Janitorial work, essentially."

Later, Montag's supervisor, Captian Beatty, explains how the role of firemen in society changed from people who put out fires to people who started fires:

"And so when houses were finally fireproofed completely, all over the world (you were correct in your assumption the other night) there was no longer need of firemen for the old purposes. They were given the new job, as custodians of our peace of mind, the focus of our understandable and rightful dread of being inferior; official censors, judges, and executors. That's you, Montag, and that's me."

A few lines later, Beatty explains that one of the reasons for the censorship of books was to prevent people from being unhappy. Some books, Beatty argues, make people upset. We certainly wouldn't want a book to upset anyone, so therefore the book should be burned:

"Coloured people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don't feel good about Uncle Tom's Cabin. Burn it. Someone's written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag."

What are some quotes about society in the novel Fahrenheit 451?

Montag lives in a dystopian society where books and knowledge are censored and people spend the majority of their leisure time consuming mindless entertainment. In Montag's dystopian society, conformity is championed and the government attempts to prevent people from engaging in meaningful, enlightening social interactions. Clarisse elaborates on the government's efforts to stop people from socializing by telling Montag,

My uncle says the architects got rid of the front porches because they didn't look well. But my uncle says that was merely rationalizing it; the real reason, hidden underneath, might be they didn't want people sitting like that, doing nothing, rocking, talking; that was the wrong kind of social life. People talked too much. And they had time to think. So they ran off with the porches.

In part 2, Montag is determined to read literature and travels to Faber's home to ask for help comprehending the information he has read. After seeing and holding the Bible, Faber tells Montag,

Christ is one of the "family" now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down? He's a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn't making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshipper absolutely needs."

Faber's comments depict the way Montag's dystopian society has commercialized religion and turned Christ into an advertisement, which underscores the superifical nature of their destructive civilization. Rather than using religion to uphold moral standards and experience spiritual enlightenment, religion has been corrupted into a marketing scheme to sell products. Montag then tells Faber,

Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls ... We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren't happy. Something's missing.

Montag's comments highlight the shallow nature of society and illustrate the citizens' obsession with mindless entertainment. The citizens do not engage in meaningful social interactions and experience unfulfilling lives. Although people are materially wealthy, they remain unhappy and are unwilling to make a change. Consumer culture has corrupted society, and the ignorant citizens are entitled and superficial. Faber once again comments on the nature of society by telling Montag,

The public itself stopped reading of its own accord. You firemen provide a circus now and then at which buildings are set off and crowds gather for the pretty blaze, but it's a small sideshow indeed, and hardly necessary to keep things in line. So few want to be rebels any more. And out of those few, most, like myself, scare easily. Can you dance faster than the White Clown, shout louder than "Mr. Gimmick" and the parlour "families"?

Faber's comments portray the citizens as passive, vacuous individuals who have no interest in engaging in intellectual pursuits and prefer to spend their free time watching the extremely loud parlour walls. Overall, the society in Fahrenheit 451 is depicted as shallow, superficial, and destructive.

What are some quotes about society in the novel Fahrenheit 451?

Firstly, here's a quote from Beatty about why books are not allowed in this society. Specifically, the people felt that books were socially dangerous because of their ability to offend others and cause mental misery. The answer to this problem was to simply burn every book. This gives us an insight into the nature of this society:

A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind.

Although burning books might seem like the solution, the following quote proves that entertainment does not cause happiness. When Mildred takes an overdose, the emergency responders tells Montag that this problem is so widespread that they had to build special machines:

"Hell!" the operator's cigarette moved on his lips. "We get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many, starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built."

In this next quote, Montag sums up the central problem of this society—that is, that people are so concerned with entertainment that they never actually take the time to focus on society's wider problems:

We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?

Finally, as we see through this quote from Mildred, people would rather get some instant gratification than actually deal with their problems:

I always like to drive fast when I feel that way. You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful. Sometimes I drive all night and come back and you don't know it.

What are some quotes about society in the novel Fahrenheit 451?

During a conversation about society, Clarisse asks Montag if he notices how violent everybody is nowadays. Clarisse tells Montag, "I'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other" (Bradbury 27). She elaborates on how many of her friends have died in the past year and explains to Montag how kids bully one another in school all the time. In the dystopian society, violence and brutality are commonplace and often encouraged.

"Quick war. Forty-eight hours they said, and everyone home. That's what the Army said. Quick war" (Bradbury 90). Mrs. Phelps discusses how her husband, Pete, is going to war again. In the dystopian society, war is frequent. Despite her husband leaving for war, Mrs. Phelps expresses how she is not worried for his safety. Civilians are encouraged not to display emotions or become attached to one another. Mrs. Phelps embodies the selfish, callous stereotype of individuals in Montag's society.

"School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after" (Bradbury 53). In this quote, Beatty is describing society to Montag. He describes how people prioritize their lives and focus solely on their jobs. Censorship is a major theme throughout the novel, and Beatty explains that language arts were removed from society.

"The mind drinks less and less. Impatience. Highways full of crowds going somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, nowhere" (Bradbury 54). Everyone in society is in a rush to get "nowhere". People are so busy moving around that they rarely stop to enjoy life. Cars travel at such high speeds that billboards are extended, so people can read them as they fly past.

"We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal. Each man the image of every other" (Bradbury 55). Individualism is frowned upon in the dystopian society.

What are some quotes about censorship in Fahrenheit 451?

You may be interested in the quotes below.

"We burned a thousand books. We burned a woman.

"Well?"

The parlor was exploding with sound.

"We burned copies of Dante and Swift and Marcus Aurelius."

In this quote, Montag is giving an account of a book-burning raid to Mildred. For her part, Mildred isn't especially interested in the raid. However, Montag's clearly emotional words demonstrate how affected he is by his own participation in the book-burning. He is most troubled by the fact that an innocent woman died as a result of his and his colleague's actions. Montag questions why the mere fact of book ownership should consign someone to an agonizing death.

Don't step on the toes of the dog-lovers, the cat-lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico . . . The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that!

Authors, full of evil thoughts, lock up your typewriters. They did. Magazines became a nice blend of vanilla tapioca. Books, so the damned snobbish critics said, were dishwater. No wonder books stopped selling, the critics said. But the public, knowing what it wanted, spinning happily, let the comic-books survive. And the three-dimensional sex magazines, of course. There you have it, Montag. It didn't come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God.

In the two quotes above, Captain Beatty gleefully explains to Montag how the censorship of books came about. Beatty obviously supports wholesale censorship, but Montag is beginning to doubt its necessity by this point in the novel.

For his part, Beatty tries to convince Montag that their job is to make sure everyone is happy. To do so, they have to stand "against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought." Beatty supports the idea of censorship because he believes that it serves a larger purpose. To Beatty, intellectual freedom and open dialogue are less important than the conflict dissonant philosophies generate.

What are some important quotes from Mildred Montag in Fahrenheit 451?

Mildred isn't exactly renowned for making memorable statements, but what she does say tends to tell us a lot about the dystopian society in which she lives. And here's an excellent example:

Montag, take my word for it, I've had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. They're about non-existent people, figments of imagination, if they're fiction. And if they're non-fiction, it's worse, one professor calling another an idiot, one philosopher screaming down another's gullet. All of them running about, putting out the stars and extinguishing the sun. You come away lost.

A depressing statement, to be sure, but one that perfectly illustrates the widespread bibliophobia that penetrates deep into the empty minds of so many in this decadent society.

Mildred is setting herself up here as an authority on reality, but what does she know about it? Her whole life is spent in a vacuous dream-world of soap stars and unctuous political candidates with their bright, gleaming perma-smiles. There's nothing real about her or the empty existence she leads, and her grotesque caricature of what books are alleged to contain shows her to be invincibly ignorant, which is just what the government expects people to be.

What are some important quotes from Mildred Montag in Fahrenheit 451?

Mildred is the epitome of the perfect citizen according to Captain Beatty's description and the society at large. She is completely distracted by entertainment such as TV, radio, and fast-moving cars. She would never do anything to change her environment and she blindly plays the role that the government expects. The idea is to keep citizens distracted with mindless activities so they won't want to ask the bigger, deeper, or more involved questions such as, "Am I happy?" Thus, the major quotes that Mildred is given are the ones that exemplify her character as a good citizen of the state. 

First, good citizens like Mildred are completely attached to their TV shows. Mildred is so attached that she must have four TVs in order to have as many on her walls as everyone else does. Mildred pleads to her husband as follows:

"It's really fun. It'll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and the fourth wall-TV put in? It's only two thousand dollars" (20).

The popular thing to do is to spend money on TVs and other distractions to keep life superficially "happy."

Another thing that the government does is to get rid of people who behave contrary to the rules and status quo. For example, Clarisse and her family seem to disappear one day and Montag asks his wife if she knows where they have gone. Because she is so wrapped up in her distracted lifestyle, she doesn't get to know her neighbors well enough to notice when they leave. When Montag triggers her memory by asking about them, she says the following:

"Oh, I know the one you mean. . . I meant to tell you. Forgot. Forgot. . . I think she's gone. . . Whole family moved out somewhere. But she's gone for good. I think she's dead. . . McClellan. McClellan. Run over by a car. Four days ago. I'm not sure. But I think she's dead. The family moved out anyway. I don't know. But I think she's dead. . . No, not sure. Pretty sure" (47).

Her absent-mindedness and unclear memory are the results of distracted living. The government wants citizens like Mildred so that no one will know when their neighbors are killed for behaving differently than desired.

Next, Mildred demonstrates the ignorance of society towards books when she compares books to her soap operas, as follows:

"Books aren't people. You read and I look all around, but there isn't anybody! . . . Now, . . . My 'family' is people. They tell me things: I laugh, they laugh! And the colors!"

The irony of what Mildred says here is that she thinks that her TV program is real. She has an emotional connection to those characters and doesn't understand that books can be that way, too. Unfortunately, the 'family' doesn't discuss intellectual issues that jeopardize the society's way of life. When Montag questions her about the people in her show she doesn't know what's going on to really articulate its meaning or purpose in her life. In the end, Mildred is simply too conditioned to the society's popular lifestyle to want anything more; whereas, her husband Montag does want more. 

What are direct quotes from Fahrenheit 451 that give insight into Montag?

The following quotes were picked in chronological order to show Montag's dynamic journey from being a fireman who burns books to a reader who wants to defend them:

"It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (3).

The above passage demonstrates that Montag starts out being all things fireman. He likes his job; he fulfills his duties; and he doesn't think twice about it. Once he meets Clarisse, though, things change. She starts to make him think about what firemen used to really do. Montag slips at work, though, and wonders these things aloud as in the following quote:

"Montag hesitated. 'Was--was it always like this? The firehouse ,our work? I mean, well, once upon a time. . .'

'Once upon a time!' Beatty said. 'What kind of talk is that?'" (34).

This vocal slip lets his boss Captain Beatty know what he's probably already been guessing--that Montag is reading. No one would have used that phrase without having read some fairy tales.

"There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing" (51).

A turning point for Montag, though, is when a lady burns herself with her books and her house. It is unfathomable to Montag for someone actually to choose to die by fire all in protest over some books! When once he dabbled in reading, now he wants to know what books can really offer him; and, he wants to see if they have something that will improve his life.

"Nobody listens any more. I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say. And maybe if I talk long enough, it'll make sense" (82).

Montag's life, he realizes, is depressing because he doesn't have children, he doesn't know and love his wife like he feels he should, and he doesn't know what direction he should be heading. He's amazed that TV and radio have distracted him and his wife so much that they have forgotten how, when, and where they first met.

"'Well,' said Beatty, 'now you did it. Old Montag wanted to fly near the sun and now that he's burnt his damn wings, he wonders why'" (113).

This last quote finds Montag caught for his crimes of owning and reading books. Again, these five quotes could be used to show Montag's dissention from being a law-abiding fireman to a criminal within Bradbury's dystopian society.

In Fahrenheit 451, what are quotes that Bradbury uses to teach readers about life?

The novel Fahrenheit 451 is filled with life lessons, analogies, metaphors, and insightful ideas. Throughout the novel, Ray Bradbury critiques modern society. He touches on sensitive issues such as personal relationships, the pursuit of happiness, censorship, war, politics, and religion. Towards the beginning of the novel, Montag is having a conversation with his charismatic neighbor, Clarisse. Clarisse says,

"No one has time anymore for anyone else. You're one of the few who put up with me. That's why I think it's so strange you're a fireman, it just doesn't seem right for you, somehow." (Bradbury 21)

Bradbury subtly uses Clarisse and Montag's verbal exchange to comment on modern society. In today's society people rarely give others their time. He teaches us that relationships are important to maintain, and giving someone your time is valued. Although Montag speaks briefly with Clarisse, their interaction has a profound effect on him. Bradbury also teaches us that no matter how brief, or insignificant a conversation may appear, there is always potential to positively affect someone's life.

Later on in the novel, Montag visits the retired English Professor, Faber. Faber notices that Montag is holding a copy of the Bible. Faber is intrigued and begins to turn the pages. Faber comments,

"It's as good as I remember. Lord, how they've changed it in our 'parlors' these days. Christ is one of the 'family' now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dressed him up, or is it dressed him down?" (Bradbury 77)

Bradbury uses this scene to comment on the commercialization of religion. In today's society, the media has distorted and promoted the figure of Christ anywhere and anyway possible. Holidays like Christmas and Easter are void of their original meanings, and movies depict Jesus as a handsome model who has magical abilities. Bradbury encourages readers to focus on the source of the religion instead of believing what the media and marketing corporations portray. The condensed, manipulated version of Christianity does not compare to the experience of studying the original text and connecting spiritually with God.

What are six quotes that show the value of the books to life in the novel Fahrenheit 451?

How about these:

What are some quotes that Bradbury uses in Fahrenheit 451 to show what society is like? 

The most powerful event in the novel, for me, is when Mildred tries to kill herself and the men come with their "snakes" to pump out Mildred's blood, clean it, and return it to her so that she can live again. The description of the men and their demeanor illustrate that suicide is not an uncommon occurrence in society. One of the men even says "we get these cases nine or ten a night. Got so many starting a few years ago, we had the special machines built."

Another good quote is when Montag is running from the Mechanical Hound and the tv program has the entire city stand up at their TVs, go outside and look for Montag in the streets.

"He imagined thousands on thousands of faces peering into yards, into alleys, and into the sky, faces hid by curtains, pale night-frightened faces, like grey animals peering from electric caves, faces with grey colourless eyes, grey tongues and grey thoughts looking out through the numb flesh of the face."

The image of the entire city doing the same exact act at the same time makes people look robotic and mindless. Technology truly takes their individuality and ability for thought away from them. The color imagery strengthens the portrayal as lifeless.

What are some quotes from Fahrenheit 451 that shows knowledge can help people in their society?

In Part Two, Montag visits Faber's home in hopes that the ex-professor can help him comprehend the texts that he has been reading. Before Faber explains the importance of literature, he comments on the positives of preserving knowledge to improve their superficial, destructive society. Faber tells Montag,

We do need knowledge. And perhaps in a thousand years we might pick smaller cliffs to jump off. The books are to remind us what asses and fools we are (Bradbury, 40).

Faber believes that by preserving knowledge, humans will be able to learn from their mistakes and improve the standard of living nationwide as society progresses. Faber goes on to tell Montag,

They're Caesar's praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, `Remember, Caesar, thou art mortal.' Most of us can't rush around, talking to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we haven't time, money or that many friends (Bradbury, 40).

In Part Three, Montag flees the dystopian city and joins a group of traveling intellectuals, who preserve knowledge by remembering complete works of literature. Granger makes a similar comment when he elaborates on the importance of literature. Granger also feels that humans should preserve knowledge in order to avoid making the same mistakes over and over. Granger compares mankind to a phoenix and tells Montag,

We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years, and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, someday we'll stop making the goddam funeral pyres and jumping into the middle of them (Bradbury, 76).

Overall, Montag, Faber, and Granger believe that knowledge is important to advance society and mankind as a whole. Without having books to preserve knowledge of the past, humans will continue to make the same mistakes and mankind will suffer.

What are some important quotations from Fahrenheit 451?

Fahrenheit 451 is a relatively short book, so reading it will give a sense of the most important quotations. For sources online, check Google Books for an eBook preview, as well as Amazon.com. Also, read the eNotes study guides available on this website for context-sensitive quotations.

One important quote comes early, when Montag is burning a building:

With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire...

This quote establishes Montag as a "fireman," but not the sort that modern society understands. Montag sets fires instead of fighting them; he burns books because they are illegal, and he burns people if they won't surrender. The "fireman" in this world is a cruel parody of the real firemen who serve humanity in the real world.

Another important quote comes when Montag and his fellow firemen are responding to a call about an old woman who is keeping books:

The woman knelt among the books, touching the drenched leather and cardboard, reading the gilt titles with her fingers while her eyes accused Montag.

"You can't ever have my books," she said.
(Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Google Books)

This quote shows both the inhumanity of Montag's actions -- he is destroying a person's beloved possessions without cause -- and the fierce love of books and reading that will soon possess Montag himself. The old woman refuses to leave her kerosene-soaked house, instead lighting herself and the house on fire rather than allowing the firement to destroy it. The strength of her conviction stuns Montag, and he finds himself even more attracted to the forbidden knowledge contained in books.

What are some quotes in the novel Fahrenheit 451 that symbolize and relate to the story? 

IT was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. . . Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame.

In terms of character progression, the opening paragraph is key to introducing and understanding Montag.  He is a fireman, and in Bradbury's future, firemen don't put out fires.  Firemen start them, and most often target books to be burned.  Montag loves his job.  He loves burning things.  He loves burning books.  He doesn't question what he is doing.  That's important because it highlights just how much Montag changes throughout the story.  

"You weren't there, you didn't see," he said. "There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing." 

This quote shows Montag's belief system beginning to crumble.  He doesn't understand why the woman would stay with her books, but he does begin to question whether or not books might hold some value beyond fire fuel.  

"And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought that thought before."

The quote shows the continuing debate Montag is having with himself about the value of books.  For the first time ever, he considers that a person spent a lot of time constructing that book.  Montag is beginning to realize that what he does by burning books is undoing all of the hard work that went into writing the book.