Famous First and Last Lines (of Books, Not Lives)

"Of all the things that drive men to seas, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women."
-Charles Johnson, Middle Passage

Charles R. Johnson was born April 23, 1948, and is still alive today. He's a prominent scholar and has attended many colleges and universities, and his writing has influenced a lot of people.
Middle Passage was published in 1990.
The book is about a freed slave, Rutherford Calhoun, who has fallen in love with a wild, adventurous lifestyle. However, he meets a young woman who is determined to make a proper man out of him.
I would like to read this book, because I read practically everything. I have no guarantee that I'd enjoy it, but I'd at least like to have the experience.

 "But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."
-A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner

  Alan Alexander Milne was born January 18, 1882 and died January 31, 1956. He's most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin (named after his son) and his bear Winnie the Pooh (originally named Edward but changed later on).
The book is a classic, something where countless childhood memories have been built. Winnie the Pooh is an adorable yellow bear that is constantly getting into trouble and teaching life-long lessons.
I would like to read this book to see where the legend of Winnie the Pooh started, and to see how close the animated series are to the books.