Frankenstein Quotes

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Source: Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

"Be men, or be more than men."

Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock. This ice is not made of such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable and cannot withstand you if you say that it shall not.

Context

This line is spoken by Dr. Victor Frankenstein in the novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley (1831).

At the end of Frankenstein, crazy doctor Victor Frankenstein is pursuing his monster on a boat in the Arctic. The ocean is so cold that we half expect Kate Winslet to float by on a door.

The crew of the boat wants to give up and go home where it's warm and dry, but Dr. Frankenstein doesn't let them. He gives the men a pep talk that would make Coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights proud, even though his East Texas butt would be frozen off.

Bonus creativity points to the good doctor for using his frigid surroundings as fodder for his motivational speech.

Where you've heard it

You've heard this if you're about to give up and someone tries to talk you out of it. Or if your friend is just super into motivational speaking and likes to practice new material on you. Hang in there, buddy.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Dr. Frankenstein might be crazy, but he's not being very pretentious here. Dramatic, maybe. But pretentious, not so much.