Picture Salem’s shadows trembling—can one whisper ignite a witch-hunt?
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, set in 1692 Massachusetts, unveils a Puritan town’s descent into chaos as fear of witchcraft sparks betrayal.
These quotes, gathered like embers of truth, weave hysteria, guilt, justice, and faith, drawn from the Penguin Classics, 2003 edition (ISBN-13: 978-0142437339).
Sift through to find one that sears your soul. Pages may shift—see the note below.
Hysteria: Salem’s Fevered Grip
Step into a town where fear spirals into accusations, shredding Salem’s bonds.
“The Salem tragedy, which is about to begin in these pages, developed from a paradox. It is a paradox in whose grip we still live, and there is no prospect yet that we will discover its resolution. Simply, it was this: for good purposes, even high purposes, the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies. It was forged for a necessary purpose and accomplished that purpose. But all organization is and must be grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition, just as two objects cannot occupy the same space. Evidently the time came in New England when the repressions of order were heavier than seemed warranted by the dangers against which the order was organized. The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set in among all classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Narrator), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 6)
“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Abigail), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 19)
“knowing smile on his face: What’s this mischief here?”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 20)
“There is prodigious danger in seeking loose spirits.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Rebecca), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 26)
“I am sick of meetings; cannot the man turn his head without he have a meeting?”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Putnam), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 26)
“We vote by name in this society, not by acreage.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 27)
“PARRIS: I want a mark of confidence, is all! I am your third preacher in seven years. I do not wish to be put out like the cat whenever some majority feels the whim.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Parris), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 28)
“…we conceive the Devil as a necessary part of a respectable view of cosmology. Ours is a divided empire in which certain ideas and emotions and actions are of God, and their opposites are of Lucifer…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Narrator), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 31)
“When it is recalled that until the Christian era the underworld was never regardded as a hostile area, that all gods were useful and essentially friendly to man despite occasional lapsesl when we see the steady methodical inculcation into humanity of the idea of man’s worthlesseness – until redeemed – the necessity of the Devil may become evident as a weapon…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Narrator), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Pages 31, 32)
“Political opposition… is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Narrator), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 32)
“Sex, sin, and the Devil were early linked.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Narrator), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 33)
“The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 35)
“Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 37)
“What victory would the Devil have to win a soul already bad? It is the best the Devil wants, and who is better than the minister.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 1, (Theme: Hysteria, Page 39)
Hear the whispers of guilt weaving through Salem’s heart…
Guilt: The Heart’s Heavy Chain
Feel the weight of sin binding Proctor and others to their past.
“When one rises above the individual villainy displayed, one can only pity them all, just as we shall be pitied some day.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Narrator), Act 1, (Theme: Guilt, Page 7)
“Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I’ll cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 1, (Theme: Guilt, Page 22)
“I cannot sleep for dreaming; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I’d find you comin’ through the door.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Abigail), Act 1, (Theme: Guilt, Page 22)
“I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretence Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes! I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Abigail), Act 1, (Theme: Guilt, Page 22)
“A child’s spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it; you must stand still, and, for love, it will soon itself come back.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Rebecca), Act 1, (Theme: Guilt, Page 25)
“Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you’re not, you’re not, and let you remember it! Let you look sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Guilt, Page 51)
“Spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity, woman. I have gone tiptoe in this house all seven month since she is gone. I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches around your heart. I cannot speak but I am doubted, every moment judged for lies, as though I come into a court when I come into this house!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Guilt, Page 52)
“Oh, Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Guilt, Page 53)
“I made a gift for you, Good Proctor. I had to sit long hours in a chair, and passed the time with sewing.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Mary Warren), Act 2, (Theme: Guilt, Page 53)
“There is a promise made in any bed.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Elizabeth Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Guilt, Page 58)
“Because it speaks deceit, and I am honest! But I’ll plead no more! I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Guilt, Page 59)
Trace the battle for truth raging in Salem’s court…
Truth and Justice: The Courtroom’s Crucible
Enter a courtroom where vengeance and honesty collide, testing Salem’s soul.
“Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers?”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 51)
“Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband anymore.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 52)
“What work you do! It’s strange work for a Christian girl to hang old women!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 56)
“…though our hearts break, we cannot flinch…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 68)
“If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 73)
“Pontius Pilate! God will not let you clean your hands of this!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 73)
“Elizabeth, with great fear: I will fear nothing.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Elizabeth), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 74)
“John – tell me, are we lost?”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Giles), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 75)
“Peace. It is a providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 2, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 76)
“Do that which is good, and no harm shall come to thee.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 3, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 88)
“But if she say she is pregnant, then she must be! That woman will never lie, Mr. Danforth.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 3, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 93)
“In an ordinary crime, how does one defend the accused? One calls up witnesses to prove his innocence. But witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature an invisible crime, is it not?…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Danforth), Act 3, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 93)
“A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you – see her what she is…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 3, (Theme: Truth and Justice, Page 102)
Yet faith rises in the soul’s final stand…
Faith and Morality: The Soul’s Last Stand
Hear the clash of belief and redemption, where Salem’s souls face their maker.
“You are pulling heaven down and raising up a whore.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 3, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 111)
“A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth!…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 3, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 111)
“It’s the proper morning to fly into Hell.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Herrick), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 113)
“I should hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law, and an ocean of salt tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Danforth), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Pages 119, 120)
“Life, woman, life is God’s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 122)
“Cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 122)
“I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Hale), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 122)
“It is as though they stood in a spinning world.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Elizabeth), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 123)
“She catches a weakening in herself and downs it. She will not let herself be drowned in the sea that threatens her.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Elizabeth), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 124)
“More Weight.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 125)
“Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words. ‘More weight,’ he says. And died.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Elizabeth), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 125)
“I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it.”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 131)
“I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 132)
Proctor’s stand for truth
“No, it is not the same! What others say and what I sign to is not the same!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 132)
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 133)
“…I can. And there’s your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor, Elizabeth), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 133)
“He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Elizabeth), Act 4, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 134)
“Why, you taught me goodness, therefore you are good…”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (Abigail), Appendix, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 150)
“I will prove you for the fraud you are!”
~Arthur Miller, The Crucible, (John Proctor), Appendix, (Theme: Faith and Morality, Page 153)
Salem’s Last Truth
These quotes from The Crucible flare like embers of hysteria, guilt, and redemption, carrying Proctor’s stand against Salem’s lies. Miller’s words sear with raw truth, urging you to hold one close as the witch-hunt fades. Which will you keep alight?
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Like shadows of accusation in Salem’s dark, these quotes fuel truth’s fight, sourced from the Penguin Classics, 2003 edition (ISBN-13: 978-0142437339). Pages may shift across editions—check your copy to tread the same path.
Want to ignite Salem’s story? Cite it like this:
Cite This Book (MLA):
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin Classics, 2003.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.