The Catcher in the Rye Quotes
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Source: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J. D. Salinger
Ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row.
Context
Early on in The Catcher in the Rye, when Holden finds out that Stradlater is about to go on a date with Jane, he make this request. (Jane is an old childhood friend, who Holden still has the hots for.)
Holden is trying to cling on to what little innocence he has left, and can only hope that Jane is still the good, pure kid he remembers her as. If she still keeps her kings in the back row (which she only did because she liked the way they looked), it will symbolize that she has retained her innocence and was not, um, besmirched by Stradlater or the adult world.
Where you've heard it
Pro tip: keeping your kings in the back row is not a winning strategy.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Save this one for your 10th grade English teacher if you don't want to sound magniloquent. And yeah, save that one for you English teacher, too.