Original artwork, not a still
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets • 1998
It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line answers Harry's fear that he is secretly a bit of Voldemort. Dumbledore says we are what we choose, not what we are born with, and that is the moral spine of the whole series. It is quoted at graduations, in classrooms and on mugs, long past the book it comes from.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsShow the scene
Dumbledore says this to Harry in the headmaster's office near the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, after Harry has survived the Chamber and the basilisk. Harry is troubled that he speaks Parseltongue and that the Sorting Hat once wanted to place him in Slytherin, so he wonders whether he is like Tom Riddle. Dumbledore points out that the Hat only put Harry in Gryffindor because he asked it not to be Slytherin, and sums up what that says about him.
Sources (1)
- Wikiquote: Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsDumbledore's exchange with Harry, pages 330-333Reference checked
Context reviewed
