20 Honest Holden Caulfield Quotes

Enjoy these Holden Caulfield quotes that will make you remember what it felt like to be a teenager.

Holden Caulfield is a fictional character created by author J.D. Salinger and first appeared in an unpublished short story that Salinger wrote in 1941.

Holden appeared in numerous writings under slightly different names.

Still, he is most famous for his role in the famous novel The Catcher in The Rye.

In The Catcher in The Rye, Caulfield is the story’s lead character and narrator.

He was a teenager struggling to be independent and therefore was rebellious but full of anxiety.

In The Catcher in The Rye, Holden Caulfield tells his jaded and honest story of spending a week in New York City alone after being expelled from school.

Check out these Holden Caulfield quotes and see if you felt the same when you were a teenager.

Cynical Holden Caulfield quotes

Holden is a cynical young man; you can see how he feels in the quotes below.

1. “I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot.” — Holden Caulfield

2. “People always clap for wrong reasons.” — Holden Caulfield

3. “I can be quite sarcastic when I’m in the mood.” — Holden Caulfield

4. “Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody.” — Holden Caulfield

5. “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.” — Holden Caulfield

6. “When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think.” — Holden Caulfield

7. “It’s really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes.” — Holden Caulfield

8. “I can’t explain what I mean. And even if I could, I’m not sure I’d feel like it.” — Holden Caulfield

9. “Lots of times you don’t know what interests you most till you start talking.” — Holden Caulfield

10. “I mean how do you know what you’re going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don’t.” — Holden Caulfield

Depressing Holden Caulfield quotes

In The Catcher in the Rye, you can tell that Holden is a depressed young man and the following quotes are proof.

11. “If somebody at least listens it not too bad” — Holden Caulfield

12. “I don’t even know what I was running for—I guess I just felt like it.” — Holden Caulfield

13. “Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad.” — Holden Caulfield

14. “I’m just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don’t they?” — Holden Caulfield

15. “That’s the whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any.” — Holden Caulfield

16. “That’s something that annoys the hell out of me- I mean if somebody says the coffee’s all ready and it isn’t” — Holden Caulfield

17. “Anyway, I’m sort of glad they’ve got the atomic bomb invented. If there’s ever another war, I’m going to sit right the hell on top of it.” — Holden Caulfield

18. “If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don’t watch it, you start showing off. And then you’re not as good anymore.” — Holden Caulfield

19. “The guy I like best in the Bible, next to Jesus, was that lunatic and all, that lived in the tombs and kept cutting himself with stones.” — Holden Caulfield

20. “And I have one of those very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I’d probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up.” — Holden Caulfield

Have you ever experienced being alone in a strange place?

Holden Caulfield was not only alone while in New York City, but he was in a strange place.

While those experiences are hard, they can shape you and push you into things you may have never experienced otherwise.

Please share these Holden Caulfield quotes with your family and friends and post any comments in the comment section below.