This is your An Inspector Calls quotes bank, organised the way the exam works: by theme and character. You do not need dozens of quotes, you need a strong handful for each big idea, learned well and understood well enough to analyse under pressure. Below are the essential quotes, each with a quick note on what to say, and links to the deeper pages. Because the play is in copyright, I keep each quote to a short line; use your copy of the script to learn them in full.
The Inspector and social responsibility
“We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other”The Inspector, Act 3
The heart of the play's message. The image of 'one body' insists society is interconnected. Priestley's socialist answer to Birling's individualism, and your single most important quote.
“they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish”The Inspector, Act 3
The chilling warning that closes his sermon. To a 1945 audience it points at the two World Wars as the price of ignoring responsibility. Explore it on the responsibility page.
“It's better to ask for the earth than to take it”The Inspector, Act 2
A pointed contrast: Eva only asked for fair treatment, while the Birlings took what they wanted. The Inspector reverses the family's ideas about who deserves respect.
Mr Birling and capitalism
“a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”Mr Birling, Act 1
The individualist creed the play sets out to defeat. 'His own' shows his care stops at his family. Priestley places it just before the Inspector arrives to argue the opposite.
“unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”Mr Birling, Act 1, on the Titanic
Dramatic irony. The 1945 audience knows the Titanic sank, so Birling is confidently wrong, and we learn to distrust his politics too. See the Mr Birling page.
“community and all that nonsense”Mr Birling, Act 1
He dismisses social responsibility as 'nonsense', the exact belief the Inspector will demolish. Priestley sets up Birling's worldview so the play can knock it down.
Class and prejudice
“girls of that class”Mrs Birling, Act 2
Class contempt in three words, reducing Eva to a type beneath notice. Use it to show how snobbery let the wealthy dismiss the poor. Explore it on the class page.
“she had only herself to blame”Mrs Birling, Act 2
The habit of blaming the poor for their own suffering. It sets up the irony that the blame will rebound onto her own son. See the Mrs Birling page.
“these girls aren't cheap labour, they're people”Sheila, Act 1
Sheila insists on the humanity of workers her father sees only as costs. Priestley gives her the play's central class insight, marking her as the one who grows.
The younger generation
“I'll never, never do it again to anybody”Sheila, Act 1
Genuine remorse and a promise to change. The repeated 'never' shows how deeply it affects her. Contrast it with her parents' concern for reputation.
“we all helped to kill her”Eric, Act 3
Eric accepting collective responsibility in plain words, aligning with the Inspector's message. Argue that Priestley rewards the young by letting them learn. See the Eric page.
“It frightens me the way you talk”Sheila, Act 3
Said to her parents as they slide back into complacency. It marks the gulf that has opened between the generations, and Priestley's hope in the young.
How to learn An Inspector Calls quotes
Pick the strongest few quotes for each theme above, then learn each one three ways: the exact words, the speaker and act, and one sharp point you can make. Test yourself by covering the note and saying your point aloud, then check. A quote you can analyse in your sleep is worth ten you can only half recite.
Once your quotes are solid, connect them to people on the character pages and to ideas on the themes page, and check where each line sits with the summary.