20+ Book Quote Tattoos Creatively Immortalizing the Power of the Written Word

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Colby Alexandria Wilkens (@colbywilkens) on May 4, 2019 at 6:59pm PDT

Great literature has a way of staying with us. A compelling story can encourage us to find the beauty in pain, the humor in life, and exercise compassion for ourselves and others. Many of us find literary writing so powerful that we want to remember a phrase for the rest of our lives. Those who love body art choose to immortalize it as a book quote tattoo.

Book quote body art comes in many forms. Some folks choose to display just the phrase on their skin sans color or additional imagery. In this case, they let the words speak for themselves. Other designs incorporate illustrations that add some flair to the text. In one tattoo, the endearing quote “If you're a bird, I'm a bird,” from The Notebook is accompanied by two lovebirds and a colorful floral arrangement. Although it's an elaborate display, a phrase from Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas proves that even just a little color and interesting letterforms can take text from ordinary to extraordinary while conveying the essence of the entire book.

Check out a beautiful and thought-provoking collection of book quote tattoos below.

People are having their favorite phrases from literature immortalized as beautiful book quote tattoos.

Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hannah Frey Christiansen (@hanner27) on Feb 23, 2019 at 10:03am PST

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Caroline Burrows (@carolineelise95) on Jan 26, 2019 at 3:11am PST

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Matt Henegar (@matthenegartattoo) on Dec 20, 2018 at 9:35pm PST

Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by • #standout • (@nerdy.tattoos) on Apr 14, 2015 at 11:04pm PDT

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by bookiane (@bookiane) on Jan 21, 2019 at 8:16am PST

Shakespeare, Hamlet

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Recorded Books & RBdigital (@recordedbooks) on Aug 22, 2014 at 7:30am PDT

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Beth (@bethreacher_) on Nov 6, 2017 at 5:50pm PST

Alfre Noyes, The Highwayman

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Libby (@libberosis) on Mar 29, 2019 at 10:01am PDT

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Corrie Worden (@corrieleah) on Jul 24, 2018 at 1:15pm PDT

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rachel Winsor (@astro.racho.tattoos) on Feb 12, 2019 at 8:37am PST

Next: More book quote tattoos.