An Inspector Calls Quotes to Remember (and How to Learn Them)
The An Inspector Calls quotes to remember are the short ones that pull double duty: "We are members of one body," "fire and blood and anguish," "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable," "Girls of that class" and "these girls aren't cheap labour – they're people." Learn about 12–15 like that, grouped by character, and you can answer almost any GCSE question on the play.
If you've read the play twice but the quotes won't stay in your head, FlashDeck turns these into cards and shows you only the ones you're about to lose: Build my study plan.
How many quotes you need
For An Inspector Calls you'll usually answer one essay question on a character or theme, with no extract printed. That means every quote comes from memory.
A strong target: 12–15 short quotes. Aim for:
- 3 for the Inspector
- 2 each for Mr and Mrs Birling
- 2 each for Sheila and Eric
- 1–2 for Gerald
- A couple of stage directions (examiners love them)
Priestley makes this easy: the play is full of short, punchy lines. Easy quotes to remember from An Inspector Calls are basically the whole point of the play said out loud.
Inspector Goole quotes
The Inspector is Priestley's mouthpiece for socialism and collective responsibility.
- "We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other." The core message. Use it for responsibility, socialism, the Inspector's purpose.
- "If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish." A warning that links to the two world wars the 1945 audience had lived through. Great for context.
- "Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges." Class, power, responsibility.
- "Millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths": Eva represents the whole working class.
Mr and Mrs Birling quotes
The Birlings represent the older generation and capitalist, upper-middle-class attitudes.
Mr Birling:
- "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" (about the Titanic): dramatic irony that makes him look foolish to the audience. Top-tier quote.
- "a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own": the exact opposite of the Inspector's message.
- "community and all that nonsense": his contempt for collective responsibility.
Mrs Birling:
- "Girls of that class": class prejudice in three words.
- "Go and look for the father of the child. It's his responsibility." Dramatic irony: she's blaming Eric without knowing it.
Sheila, Eric and Gerald quotes
The younger generation, and whether they change, is one of the biggest essay topics.
Sheila:
- "But these girls aren't cheap labour – they're people." Her shift in attitude toward class.
- "I'll never, never do it again to anybody." Guilt and change.
- "You're pretending everything's just as it was before." Her challenge to her parents in Act 3.
Eric:
- "Why shouldn't they try for higher wages?" Early sympathy for the workers.
- "You're not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble." Family conflict, generational divide.
Gerald:
- "Everything's all right now, Sheila." He offers her the ring back, showing he's learned nothing.
Stage directions worth learning
- The opening lighting is "pink and intimate" until the Inspector arrives, then "brighter and harder." Perfect for how Priestley exposes the family's comfortable illusions.
- The Inspector creates "an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness."
Theme quotes: responsibility, class, age, gender
Here's how the key quotes for An Inspector Calls map onto the big themes. Use this table as your revision cheat sheet.
| Theme | Best quotes |
|---|---|
| Responsibility | 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 |
| Class | 3, 4, 8, 10 |
| Age / generations | 11, 12, 14, 15 |
| Gender | 8, 15, plus Birling's "Clothes mean something quite different to a woman" |
| Capitalism vs socialism | 1, 5, 6, 13 |
Several quotes fit three themes. That's what makes them the top quotes for An Inspector Calls: fewer to learn, more to use.
Reading this list feels like revising, but you can't tell which quotes you'll actually remember in the exam hall until you test yourself on all of them over days. FlashDeck does the testing and the tracking: paste the list, it makes one card per quote, and each day it serves only the ones you're about to forget. Tap Knew it or Missed it and it schedules the rest. Build my study plan
How to memorise them in a week
A seven-day plan for how to revise for An Inspector Calls GCSE quotes, about 15 minutes a day:
Day 1: Inspector quotes (1–4). Learn each with first-letter recall: "W a m o o b. W a r f e o."
Day 2: Birling quotes (5–9). Quick test on day 1's quotes first.
Day 3: Younger generation (10–15) plus the stage directions. Test days 1–2.
Day 4: Test all quotes cold from a prompt ("Mrs Birling on class?"). Circle the misses.
Day 5: Re-drill only the misses. Write one paragraph on responsibility using three quotes.
Day 6: Theme flip: for each theme in the table, produce two quotes from memory.
Day 7: Timed practice answer (30–45 minutes) using only memory. Anything you misquoted goes back into daily review.
Then keep a short daily review going until the exam. For the general method, see how to memorise quotes for English literature. And if you're also doing a 19th-century novel, the same approach works for A Christmas Carol.
Using quotes in your answer
- Embed short quotes into your sentences.
- Zoom in on one word ("cheap," "unsinkable," "class").
- Tie it to context: written in 1945, set in 1912, before two world wars and the creation of the welfare state.
- Show change: Sheila at the start vs the end is an easy contrast.
Remember every Inspector Calls quote in 10 minutes a day
These An Inspector Calls quotes to remember only help if they're still there on exam day. Paste this list or your class notes into FlashDeck and it writes the flashcards in seconds, then shows you about ten minutes of due cards a day, with misses back tomorrow.
FAQ
What are the top 10 quotes for An Inspector Calls?
A strong top 10: "We are members of one body," "fire and blood and anguish," "Public men... have responsibilities as well as privileges," "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable," "a man has to mind his own business," "Girls of that class," "these girls aren't cheap labour – they're people," "I'll never, never do it again to anybody," "Why shouldn't they try for higher wages?" and "Everything's all right now, Sheila."
How many An Inspector Calls quotes should I learn?
About 12–15 short quotes covers every character and major theme. Pick ones that fit more than one theme so you can adapt them to any question.
What are easy quotes to remember from An Inspector Calls?
"Girls of that class," "community and all that nonsense," "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" and "Everything's all right now, Sheila" are all short and packed with meaning. They're quick to learn and easy to analyse word by word.
How do I revise An Inspector Calls for GCSE?
Learn a short quote list grouped by character and theme, write practice paragraphs, and do at least one timed essay from memory. Keep a short daily review of your quotes going. FlashDeck can turn your notes into cards and schedule the review for you.
What is the most important quote in An Inspector Calls?
Many teachers would pick "We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other," because it sums up Priestley's message. Pair it with "fire and blood and anguish" to show what he warns will happen if people ignore it.