# What scene from literature brings you to tears? (Open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134 "2018-02-19T18:23:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/81 "2018-02-26T08:02:11Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > O. Henry’s _An Unfinished Story_ tells about Dulcie, a shopgirl who lives a terribly impoverished existence, and the even worse alternatives. The very mention of O. Henry reminds me of _ **The Gift of the Magi** _, which chokes me up no matter many times I read or hear it. I would give anything to have someone love me the way Jim and Della love each other. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/82 "2018-02-26T08:16:26Z")
Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree is hard to read without getting all quavery. And there are several places in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road where I weep - he’s got the most beautiful blessing for a newborn child, ever (I used it when I put together the “parents page” for my son’s high school graduation). And the last line of the book, which I am only paraphrasing here and may be mangling pretty badly: “Sometimes, the best part of life is only in a dream.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/83 "2018-02-26T09:13:19Z")
Pft, that’s stolen from Calderón’s _La vida es sueño_ 😛 (life is a dream). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/84 "2018-02-26T10:32:22Z")
“I pass the test”, she said. “I will diminish, and go into the West and remain Galadriel.” ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/85 "2018-02-26T12:41:42Z")
Thank y’all for answering. I have some new reading material added to my kindle based on some of the descriptions here. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/86 "2018-02-26T15:21:11Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Pft, that’s stolen from Calderón’s _La vida es sueño_ 😛 (life is a dream). But it’s not the sentence on its own that creates the impact - it’s the weight of the book before it that makes it so moving. Besides, there is a huge difference between “life is a dream” and saying that the good parts of life are ONLY a dream. Let me see if I can go find the book and write the actual sentence…Yeah, I screwed it up pretty bad. Here’s the real last sentence: _A dream can be the highest point of a life._ ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/87 "2018-02-26T19:23:59Z")
Another vote for the end of _Charlotte’s Web_. Also this passage from _The Velveteen Rabbit_, which never fails: > [@The Velveteen Rabbit](#): > > “Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’ > > ‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit. > > ‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’ > > ‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’ > > ‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” If I make it through the rest, that last sentence gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134/88 "2018-02-27T01:40:53Z")
Terry Pratchett’s final book. When Granny Weatherwax makes the rounds before dying, and you know its not truly her going around… but Terry saying goodbye to his beloved creations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scene-from-literature-brings-you-to-tears-open-spoilers/809134.md?page=4)