A beloved quote from The History Boys went viral this week, spread by a GIF image from the movie adaptation of Alan Bennett‘s 2004 play. This inspiring quote has been viewed nearly 400,000 times online:
The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.
In the video embedded above, you can watch Richard Griffiths deliver those lines at the 1:34 mark. In the play, Bennett fictionalized his own days as a student at Leeds Modern School where a headmaster inspired eight boys to aspire to follow an ambitious academic course. Follow this PDF link to read more about the play’s history.