Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

by

J. K. Rowling

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The Headmaster at Hogwarts. Dumbledore is an old wizard with a long white beard and half-moon-shaped glasses. He is revered in the wizarding world as one of the greatest wizards in the modern era. Throughout the book, Dumbledore serves as a parental figure and a guide for Harry, making the crucial early decision to send him to live with Vernon and Petunia so that he wouldn’t grow up surrounded by fame, which would most certainly inflate his ego. When Harry arrives at school, Dumbledore helps him learn crucial lessons about the Mirror of Erised and gives him some implicit encouragement to break the rules in passing down James’s Invisibility Cloak to him. As Harry surmises by the end of the book, Dumbledore gives Harry enough information to help him figure out how to get to the Sorcerer’s Stone and to face Voldemort, rather than simply stopping him. In this way, Dumbledore encourages Harry to do what is right and to put others above himself, even if it means breaking the rules. At the end of the book, Dumbledore helps Harry to understand more fully why he was able to survive Voldemort’s curse ten years earlier, and why he was able to get to the Sorcerer’s Stone. Dumbledore’s answers give Harry some sense of clarity, but also imply that there is a lot Harry has yet to understand about his and Voldemort’s intertwined fates, which are gradually unthreaded in the subsequent books.

Albus Dumbledore Quotes in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone quotes below are all either spoken by Albus Dumbledore or refer to Albus Dumbledore. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Magic, Difference, and Belonging Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“He’ll be famous—a legend—I wouldn’t be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future—there will be books written about Harry—every child in our world will know his name!”

“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. “It would be enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous tor something he won’t even remember! Can’t you see how much better off he’ll be, growing up away from all that until he’s ready to take it?”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Professor McGonagall (speaker), Harry Potter, Lily Potter, James Potter, Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley
Related Symbols: The Sorcerer’s Stone
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

“I don’t know, sir,” said Harry.
Snape’s lips curled into a sneer.
“Tut, tut — fame clearly isn’t everything.”

Related Characters: Harry Potter (speaker), Professor Snape (speaker), Albus Dumbledore, James Potter
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Voldemort / You-Know-Who, Lily Potter, James Potter
Related Symbols: The Mirror of Erised
Page Number: 213
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Voldemort / You-Know-Who, Professor Quirrell, Lily Potter
Related Symbols: The Sorcerer’s Stone
Page Number: 299
Explanation and Analysis:

“You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone — find it, but not use it — would be able to get it, otherwise they’d just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life.”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Voldemort / You-Know-Who, Professor Quirrell
Related Symbols: The Mirror of Erised, The Sorcerer’s Stone
Page Number: 300
Explanation and Analysis:
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Albus Dumbledore Quotes in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone quotes below are all either spoken by Albus Dumbledore or refer to Albus Dumbledore. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Magic, Difference, and Belonging Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“He’ll be famous—a legend—I wouldn’t be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in the future—there will be books written about Harry—every child in our world will know his name!”

“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. “It would be enough to turn any boy’s head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous tor something he won’t even remember! Can’t you see how much better off he’ll be, growing up away from all that until he’s ready to take it?”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Professor McGonagall (speaker), Harry Potter, Lily Potter, James Potter, Vernon Dursley, Petunia Dursley
Related Symbols: The Sorcerer’s Stone
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

“I don’t know, sir,” said Harry.
Snape’s lips curled into a sneer.
“Tut, tut — fame clearly isn’t everything.”

Related Characters: Harry Potter (speaker), Professor Snape (speaker), Albus Dumbledore, James Potter
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Voldemort / You-Know-Who, Lily Potter, James Potter
Related Symbols: The Mirror of Erised
Page Number: 213
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Voldemort / You-Know-Who, Professor Quirrell, Lily Potter
Related Symbols: The Sorcerer’s Stone
Page Number: 299
Explanation and Analysis:

“You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone — find it, but not use it — would be able to get it, otherwise they’d just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life.”

Related Characters: Albus Dumbledore (speaker), Harry Potter, Voldemort / You-Know-Who, Professor Quirrell
Related Symbols: The Mirror of Erised, The Sorcerer’s Stone
Page Number: 300
Explanation and Analysis: