There’s a difference between thinking “Well, that was a book,” and thinking, “Man, that was a book,” and it all depends on the last sentence. Some final lines are just that—final lines—while others are life-changing messages that stay with you long after you’ve closed the book, put it away, and returned to whatever it is you were doing before, still the same person you always were but also somehow different.

These are just a few of those profound, life-changing, and unforgettable last lines in literature.