Venture onto the windswept moors in Emily Brontë’s Gothic masterpiece.
These Wuthering Heights quotes with page numbers capture the turbulent passion between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, charting their obsessive love and its destructive legacy.
Uncover the dark heart of this classic through 45 key quotes, verified with speaker, chapter, and page number (Penguin Classics 2002 edition).
Each quote includes insightful analysis exploring the novel’s enduring themes of revenge, social class, nature, and the supernatural.
The harsh landscape and isolated setting of Wuthering Heights profoundly shape the characters and their intense, often destructive, relationships.
Arrivals & First Impressions
Mr. Lockwood’s arrival as a tenant at Thrushcross Grange precipitates his fateful visit to Wuthering Heights, where he encounters the surly Heathcliff, the withdrawn young Catherine, and the unwelcoming atmosphere that sets the stage for Nelly Dean’s narrative.
“Terror made me cruel . . .”
(Speaker: Mr. Lockwood as narrator, Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 25)
Lockwood reflects on his panicked reaction to Catherine’s ghostly apparition, acknowledging how profound fear can override reason and provoke unintended cruelty, foreshadowing the destructive power of intense emotion in the novel.
“I’m now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.”
(Speaker: Mr. Lockwood, Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 29)
Following his harrowing night at Wuthering Heights, Lockwood declares a newfound appreciation for solitude, ironically setting up his role as the primary audience for Nelly’s intensely social and dramatic tale.
“I shall be as dirty as I please, and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 7, Page 55)
Heathcliff’s defiant declaration rejects Catherine’s criticism after her return from the Lintons, asserting his embrace of his “dirty,” lower-class status as an act of willful opposition against imposed social niceties.
“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 81)
This iconic declaration reveals the depth of Catherine’s identification with Heathcliff, transcending social barriers and conventional affection to assert a fundamental, almost spiritual, unity between their beings.
“I’ve dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 80)
Catherine describes the profound, transformative power of dreams on her psyche, suggesting her subconscious life holds potent truths that reshape her waking perceptions and decisions, foreshadowing her famous heaven/hell dream.
“If I were in heaven, Nelly, I should be extremely miserable.”
“Because you are not fit to go there,” I answered. “All sinners would be miserable in heaven.”
(Dialogue: Catherine Earnshaw and Nelly Dean, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 80)
Catherine expresses her intrinsic connection to the wild, earthly passion of Wuthering Heights, rejecting conventional notions of heavenly bliss as alien and undesirable compared to her intense connection with Heathcliff.
“Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 81)
This powerful dream encapsulates Catherine’s passionate, almost elemental connection to the earthly realm of Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff, finding conventional heaven alienating compared to the turbulent intensity she identifies as home.
“I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven… It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him… because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 81)
Catherine articulates the central conflict driving her tragic choice: marrying Edgar offers social elevation but betrays her soul’s true connection to Heathcliff, whom societal degradation now makes an impossible match, revealing the clash between social ambition and essential self.
“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 82)
Catherine expresses the absolute centrality of Heathcliff to her existence; her very being and connection to the universe are defined by his presence, making his potential absence an unimaginable void.
“My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He’s always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 82)
Using powerful natural metaphors, Catherine contrasts her changeable, superficial affection for Edgar with her fundamental, unchanging, and necessary soul-connection to Heathcliff, culminating in the ultimate declaration of their intertwined identities.
The return of Heathcliff after a mysterious three-year absence reignites dormant passions and sets in motion his calculated plans for revenge against those he perceives as having wronged him.
Heathcliff’s Return & The Nature of Love
Years later, a transformed Heathcliff returns, wealthy and refined, but his core nature remains unchanged. His reappearance throws Catherine and Edgar’s fragile peace into turmoil, revealing the destructive and obsessive nature of his enduring love for Catherine and his capacity for calculated cruelty.
“I’ve fought through a bitter life since I last heard your voice; and you must forgive me, for I struggled only for you!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Page 99)
Heathcliff frames his entire mysterious absence and subsequent transformation as a struggle undertaken solely for Catherine, justifying his return and future actions through the lens of his unwavering, all-consuming devotion.
“I seek no revenge on you…The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don’t turn against him; they crush those beneath them.”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 11, Page 113)
Heathcliff chillingly outlines his philosophy of revenge, deflecting direct confrontation with Catherine while revealing his intention to inflict suffering indirectly by targeting those weaker than himself, mirroring the cycle of oppression.
“I want you to be aware that I KNOW you have treated me infernally – infernally! Do you hear? And if you flatter yourself that I don’t perceive it, you are a fool; and if you think I can be consoled by sweet words, you are an idiot: and if you fancy I’ll suffer unrevenged, I’ll convince you of the contrary, in a very little while!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 11, Page 113)
Heathcliff directly accuses Catherine of profound betrayal (“treated me infernally”), dismissing any attempts at reconciliation and explicitly promising swift, decisive revenge for the emotional wounds inflicted.
“I’m not jealous of you,’ replied the mistress; ‘I’m jealous for you. Clear your face: you sha’n’t scowl at me! If you like Isabella, you shall marry her.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Volume 1, Chapter 11, Page 113)
Catherine’s complex statement reveals both possessiveness over Heathcliff (“jealous for you”) and a reckless willingness to manipulate Isabella’s affections, dangerously misjudging Heathcliff’s capacity for cruelty and his true feelings.
“She’s her brother’s heir, is she not?’ he asked, after a brief silence.”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Page 107)
Heathcliff’s seemingly casual question reveals his calculating mind already assessing Isabella’s strategic value, hinting that his interest lies in her inheritance and potential use against Edgar, not genuine affection.
“I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails! It is a moral teething; and I grind with greater energy in proportion to the increase of pain.”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 149)
Heathcliff explicitly rejects compassion, embracing a sadistic worldview where inflicting pain is not only justified but provides a form of perverse satisfaction (“moral teething”), revealing the depth of his desire for vengeance.
Catherine’s passionate, tormented spirit refuses to be confined by societal expectations or the limitations of her physical body, leading to a devastating illness and confrontation with Heathcliff.
Catherine’s Torment & Heathcliff’s Anguish
Torn between her love for Edgar and her soul’s connection to Heathcliff, Catherine descends into illness and delirium, culminating in a final, brutal confrontation that solidifies their tragic, intertwined fates.
“I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free… Why am I so changed? I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Volume 1, Chapter 12, Page 125)
During her illness, Catherine yearns for the lost freedom and authentic self associated with her wild childhood on the moors with Heathcliff, lamenting the constraints and changes brought by her marriage and societal expectations.
“I’ll not lie there by myself: they may bury me twelve feet deep, and throw the church down over me, but I won’t rest till you are with me. I never will!”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Volume 1, Chapter 12, Page 126)
In her delirium, Catherine expresses the fierce, possessive nature of her bond with Heathcliff, asserting that even death cannot separate them and demanding his ultimate reunion with her in the grave.
“I have such faith in Linton’s love, that I believe I might kill him, and he wouldn’t wish to retaliate.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Page 101)
Catherine expresses a disturbing confidence in Edgar’s passive devotion, suggesting she perceives his love as unconditional tolerance for even her most destructive impulses, highlighting her skewed view of relationships.
“Oh, Cathy! Oh, my life! how can I bear it?”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 160)
This raw cry of anguish upon seeing the dying Catherine reveals the depth of Heathcliff’s despair, framing her not just as his love, but as his very life force, the loss of which is unbearable.
“You know that I could as soon forget you as my existence!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 161)
Heathcliff vehemently asserts the inseparable nature of his identity and his memory of Catherine, equating forgetting her with ceasing to exist, underscoring the totality of her presence in his being.
“I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there: not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of an aching heart: but really with it, and in it.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 162)
Catherine expresses a desperate longing to transcend her physical suffering and confinement (“shattered prison”), yearning for a complete, unmediated union with the “glorious world” she associates with nature and, implicitly, Heathcliff.
“How cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 162)
Catherine accuses Heathcliff of coldness during their intense final meeting, contrasting his perceived lack of immediate response with her own boiling turmoil, ironically overlooking the depth of his internal anguish.
“You teach me now how cruel you’ve been – cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? […] You loved me – then what right had you to leave me? What right – answer me – for the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery, and degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will did it. I have not broken your heart – you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Pages 162-63)
In their final confrontation, Heathcliff unleashes years of anguish, accusing Catherine of betraying their essential bond (“broken your heart – you have broken it”) through her own voluntary choice, driven by societal pressures (“poor fancy for Linton”).
“I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer—but yours! How can I?”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 163)
Heathcliff expresses the paradoxical torment of his love: he forgives Catherine for the pain she inflicted on *him* (“my murderer”) but cannot forgive her self-destruction (“yours”), revealing love intertwined with agonizing resentment.
“Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you—haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 2, Page 169)
In this famous cry of despair after Catherine’s death, Heathcliff curses her spirit to remain with him, preferring the torment of her haunting presence in any form to the unbearable emptiness (“abyss”) of her absolute absence.
Heathcliff’s grief manifests as calculated cruelty towards the next generation, particularly Isabella, Hindley, and their respective children, Linton and Hareton.
Revenge, Cruelty & The Next Generation
Consumed by loss and bitterness, Heathcliff enacts his revenge, manipulating and tormenting those connected to the families he blames for his suffering, perpetuating a cycle of misery onto the innocent second generation.
“I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death; and flung it back to me. People feel with their hearts, Ellen, and since he has destroyed mine, I have not power to feel for him.”
(Speaker: Isabella Linton, Volume 2, Chapter 3, Page 174)
Isabella vividly describes Heathcliff’s emotional brutality, portraying him as deliberately crushing her affection and leaving her incapable of empathy, highlighting the destructive impact of his calculated cruelty.
“Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies.”
(Speaker: Isabella Linton, quoting Hindley?, Volume 2, Chapter 3, Page 176)
Isabella articulates a core theme of the novel, recognizing that acts of betrayal and violence ultimately inflict the most profound damage upon the perpetrators themselves, a truth Heathcliff seems unable to grasp.
“I despise him for himself, and hate him for the memories he revives!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff about Linton Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 6, Page 208)
Heathcliff reveals his complex loathing for his own son, despising Linton’s weakness while hating him even more for physically resembling the Lintons and reminding him of Catherine’s choice.
“Don’t you think Hindley would be proud of his son, if he could see him? almost as proud as I am of mine. But there’s this difference; one is gold put to the use of paving-stones, and the other is tin polished to ape a service of silver.”
(Speaker: Heathcliff comparing Hareton and Linton, Volume 2, Chapter 7, Page 218)
Using a potent metaphor, Heathcliff contrasts Hareton’s innate potential (“gold”) deliberately degraded by him, with Linton’s superficial refinement (“tin polished”) lacking substance, revealing his cynical satisfaction in corrupting both legacies.
“‘Damn the curate, and thee! Gie me that,’ he replied.”
(Speaker: Hareton Earnshaw, Volume 2, Chapter 11, Page 247)
Hareton’s crude, defiant response to Nelly, echoing Heathcliff’s mannerisms, demonstrates the success of Heathcliff’s efforts to degrade him and instill hostility towards education and civility.
“Quietly as a lamb! She drew a sigh, and stretched herself, like a child reviving, and sinking again to sleep; and five minutes after I felt one little pulse at her heart, and nothing more!”
(Speaker: Nelly Dean describing Catherine’s death, Volume 2, Chapter 2, Page 169)
Nelly contrasts Catherine’s fierce life with her peaceful death, emphasizing the final stillness and absence of struggle, a tranquil end counterpointing the passionate turmoil of her existence.
“Time brought resignation and a melancholy sweeter than common joy.”
(Speaker: Nelly Dean describing Edgar’s grief, Volume 2, Chapter 3, Page 183)
Nelly observes Edgar’s process of grieving, suggesting that time transforms acute sorrow into a gentle, pervasive melancholy that holds a unique, bittersweet quality distinct from ordinary happiness.
“I pray every night that I may live after him; because I would rather be miserable than that he should be — that proves I love him better than myself.”
(Speaker: Young Catherine Linton, Volume 2, Chapter 8, Page 231)
Young Catherine echoes her mother’s capacity for deep devotion, expressing a selfless desire to bear sorrow herself rather than have her father experience it, defining love through prioritizing his well-being.
The final chapters depict Heathcliff’s decline as his obsession consumes him, alongside the budding relationship between Hareton and young Catherine, offering a potential resolution to the cycles of revenge.
Obsession, Dissolution & The End
Haunted by Catherine’s ghost and losing his will for vengeance, Heathcliff spirals into self-destruction, while a tentative connection forms between Hareton and young Cathy, suggesting the possibility of breaking the cycle and finding peace on the moors.
“I’ve no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw, Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 81)
This raw admission encapsulates Catherine’s tragic self-awareness; she recognizes that marrying Edgar aligns with societal expectations (‘heaven’) but fundamentally contradicts her true nature and soul’s belonging.
“It is for God to punish wicked people; we should learn to forgive.”
(Speaker: Nelly Dean, Volume 1, Chapter 7, Page 61)
Nelly voices a conventional moral perspective, advocating for forgiveness and divine justice, which stands in stark contrast to the novel’s central themes of passionate revenge and earthly retribution.
“A person who has not done one half his day’s work by ten o’clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.”
(Speaker: Nelly Dean, Volume 1, Chapter 7, Page 62)
Nelly expresses her practical, industrious worldview, emphasizing the importance of diligence and timely work, reflecting the pragmatic values necessary for managing households like the Grange or Heights.
“I wish you had sincerity enough to tell me whether Catherine would suffer greatly from his loss: the fear that she would restrains me. And there you see the distinction between our feelings: had he been in my place and I in his, though I hated him with a hatred that turned my life to gall, I never would have raised a hand against him. You may look incredulous, if you please! I never would have banished him from her society as long as she desired his. The moment her regard ceased, I could have torn his heart out, and drunk his blood! But, till then – if you don’t believe me, you don’t know me – till then, I would have died by inches before I touched a single hair of his head!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 14, Page 147)
Heathcliff passionately contrasts his possessive, all-consuming love for Catherine with Edgar’s perceived weaker affection, claiming he would endure torment for her sake but unleash savage violence the moment her love ceased, revealing the terrifying intensity and conditional nature of his devotion.
“If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn’t love as much in eighty years as I could in a day.”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 1, Chapter 14, Page 148)
Heathcliff contemptuously dismisses the depth of Edgar’s love for Catherine, contrasting Linton’s perceived weakness (“puny being”) with the overwhelming, timeless intensity of his own passion, asserting his unique capacity to love her fully.
“He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would be drunk: I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not breathe in mine.”
(Speaker: Catherine Earnshaw Linton describing her and Edgar’s differing ideals, Volume 1, Chapter 14, Page 148)
Catherine vividly contrasts her desire for vibrant, joyful existence (“sparkle and dance”) with Edgar’s preference for tranquil peace, highlighting their fundamental incompatibility in temperament and vision of happiness.
“It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn.”
(Speaker: Nelly Dean describing Edgar and Isabella’s behavior towards Catherine, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Page 92)
Nelly uses a botanical metaphor to describe the Lintons’ dynamic with Catherine, suggesting their gentle natures actively accommodated and enveloped her prickly personality, rather than demanding she conform.
“Honest people don’t hide their deeds.”
(Speaker: Nelly Dean, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Page 103)
Nelly states a simple maxim reflecting her own generally straightforward nature and perhaps casting suspicion on Heathcliff’s hidden past and ambiguous motives upon his return.
“The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost her!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 19, Page 323)
Heathcliff expresses the totality of his obsession, revealing that every aspect of existence serves only as a painful reminder of Catherine’s presence and his profound, unending loss.
“I have to remind myself to breathe — almost to remind my heart to beat!”
(Speaker: Heathcliff, Volume 2, Chapter 19, Page 326)
Near his end, Heathcliff describes the overwhelming power of his obsession with the afterlife and Catherine, so consuming that even the basic involuntary functions of life require conscious effort.
“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”
(Speaker: Mr. Lockwood as narrator, Volume 2, Chapter 20, Page 337)
Lockwood’s final reflection provides a sense of peace and resolution, contrasting the violent passions recounted in the story with the tranquil, natural setting of the graves, suggesting the possibility of ultimate rest.
The wild moors ultimately reclaim their own, offering a stark, quiet peace after generations of turmoil, leaving the reader to ponder the enduring power of love and the finality of nature.
Conclusion: Echoes on the Moors
These 45 quotes from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights capture the tempestuous heart of Catherine and Heathcliff’s obsessive love and its devastating legacy.
From declarations of soul-deep connection to cries of anguish and vows of vengeance, their words resonate with the wild, untamed spirit of the moors themselves. The novel remains a powerful exploration of passion, social class, cruelty, and the possibility of redemption across generations.
Through intertwined narratives and unforgettable characters, Brontë leaves us contemplating the destructive nature of thwarted love and the enduring question of whether even the most tormented souls can find peace in the “quiet earth.”
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Just as ghosts wander the moors, page numbers may shift across editions! These page numbers reference the specific Penguin Classics Revised edition (December 31, 2002) of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, ISBN-13: 978-0141439556. Always consult your copy to ensure the passage reflects your haunted reading.
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.