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Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens Quotes

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Famous Charles Dickens Quotes

“it is a principle of his that no man who was not a true gentleman at heart, ever was, since the world began, a true gentleman in manner. He says, no varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and that the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself.”

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Book:British Classics: Great Expectations
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“Then idiots talk....of Energy. If there is a word in the dictionary under any letter from A to Z that I abominate, it is energy. It is such a conventional superstition, such parrot gabble! What the deuce!....But show me a good opportunity, show me something really worth being energetic about, and I'll show you energy.”

IfsShowsOpportunityEnergyLettersIdiotSuperstitionsConventionalShow MeDictionaryEnergeticParrotsGood OpportunityDeuces
Author:Charles Dickens
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“She forgot to be shy at the moment, in honestly warning him away from the sunken wreck he had a dream of raising; and looked at him with eyes which assuredly, in association with her patient face, her fragile figure, her spare dress, and the wind and rain, did not turn him from his purpose of helping her.”

MomentsHelpingDreamEyeFacesPurposeTurnsFiguresWindRainDressesPatientHonestlyShyWarningFragileAssociationSparesWrecksWind And Rain
Book:The Complete Works of Charles Dickens (in 30 Volumes, Illustrated): Little Dorrit
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“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”

PeopleYearsLongBeautifulEvilNaturalCitiesStruggleBirthDefeatBrilliantTriumphRisingAbyssBeautiful CityTale Of Two Cities
Book:A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations (Oprah's Book Club): Two Novels
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“Dreams are the bright creatures of poem and legend, who sport on earth in the night season, and melt away in the first beam of the sun, which lights grim care and stern reality on their daily pilgrimage through the world.”

WorldFirstsDreamRealityLightCareEarthNightSportsSunCreaturesSeasonsLegendsBeamGrimPilgrimage
Book:Charles Dickens's works. Charles Dickens ed. [18 vols. of a 21 vol. set. Wanting A child's history of England; Christmas stories; The mystery of Edwin Drood].
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“You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since-on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with.”

MindFirstsHeartHas BeensLightLinesPoorCommonExistenceBoysDarknessSeaStreetsWindExpectationsRiversCloudsWoodsShipsFancyRoughSailWoundedEmbodimentGreat ExpectationsDarkness To LightMarshes
Author:Charles Dickens
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“It would have been cruel in Miss Havisham, horribly cruel, to practise on the susceptibility of a poor boy, and to torture me through all these years with a vain hope and an idle pursuit, if she had reflected on the gravity of what she did. But I think she did not. I think that in the endurance of her own trial, she forgot mine, Estella.”

IfsThinkingYearsHas BeensPoorBoysMissingMinesExpectationsPursuitTrialsVainTortureEnduranceGravityIdlePractiseGreat ExpectationsSusceptibilityGreat Expectations ImportantPoor BoyHavishamMiss Havisham
Book:The Complete Works of Charles Dickens: Great Expectations
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“The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I love her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection.”

IfsMenHumansReasonFoundInfluenceSorrowPromiseTruth IsPerfectionIrresistibleDiscouragementGreat ExpectationsUnqualifiedRestraining
Book:Great Expectations: With an Introduction and Contemporary Criticism
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“I'll tell you," said she, in the same hurried passionate whisper, "what real love it. It is blind devotion, unquestioning self-humiliation, utter submission, trust and belief against yourself and against the whole world, giving up your whole heart and soul to the smiter - as I did!”

WorldLoveGivingHeartSaidRealSoulSelfWholeBeliefGiving UpBlindPassionateDevotionWhole WorldReal LoveHumiliationSubmissionHeart And SoulGreat ExpectationsHavishamMiss Havisham
Book:British Classics: Great Expectations
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“What connexion can there be, between the place in Lincolnshire, the house in town, the Mercury in powder, and the whereabout of Jo the outlaw with the broom, who had that distant ray of light upon him when he swept the churchyard-step? What connexion can there have been between many people in the innumerable histories of this world, who, from opposite sides of great gulfs, have, nevertheless, been very curiously brought together!”

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Book:Bleak House
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“All through it, I have known myself to be quite undeserving. And yet I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire- a fire, however, inseparable in its nature from myself, quickening nothing, lighting nothing, doing no service, idly burning away.”

KnowsStillsWishKnownFireWeaknessBurningMasteryAshesWish YouLightingInseparableQuickeningUndeserving
Book:A Tale of Two Cities - Literary Touchstone Edition
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“The boy was lying, fast asleep, on a rude bed upon the floor; so pale with anxiety, and sadness, and the closeness of his prison, that he looked like death; not death as it shews in shroud and coffin, but in the guise it wears when life has just departed; when a young and gentle spirit has, but an instant, fled to Heaven: and the gross air of the world has not had time to breathe upon the changing dust it hallowed.”

WorldYoungSpiritLyingHeavenBoysAirSadnessBedAnxietyPrisonBreatheDustGentleInstantPaleRudeGrossClosenessCoffinsGuiseDepartedShroudsGentle Spirit
Book:Oliver Twist: Classic English Literature
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“Morning drew on apace. The air became more sharp and piercing, as its first dull hue: the death of night, rather than the birth of day: glimmered faintly in the sky. The objects which had looked dim and terrible in the darkness, grew more and more defined, and gradually resolved into their familiar shapes. The rain came down, thick and fast; and pattered, noisily, among the leafless bushes.”

FirstsNightMorningDarknessAirSkyObjectsGrewBirthTerribleShapesRainFamiliarDefinedDullThickGloomHuePiercings
Book:Oliver Twist
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“The doctor seemed especially troubled by the fact of the robbery having been unexpected, and attempted in the night-time; as if it were the established custom of gentlemen in the housebreaking way to transact business at noon, and to make an appointment, by the twopenny post, a day or two previous.”

IfsWayTwoFactsNightDoctorsPostsGentlemanUnexpectedCustomsNoonAppointmentsRobberyNight Time
Book:Oliver Twist, Volume 2 (of 3) (Illustrations)
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“Such is the influence which the condition of our own thoughts, exercises, even over the appearance of external objects. Men who look on nature, and their fellow-men, and cry that all is dark and gloomy, are in the right; but the sombre colours are reflections from their own jaundiced eyes and hearts. The real hues are delicate, and need a clearer vision.”

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Book:Oliver Twist
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“Let the tears which fell, and the broken words which were exchanged in the long close embrace between the orphans, be sacred. A father, sister, and mother, were gained, and lost, in that one moment. Joy and grief were mingled in the cup; but there were no bitter tears: for even grief arose so softened, and clothed in such sweet and tender recollections, that it became a solemn pleasure, and lost all character of pain.”

LongMomentsCharacterPainJoyMotherFatherLostPleasureGriefTearsSweetBrokenSacredEmbraceBitterCupsSolemnRecollectionOrphanSisters And MothersJoy And Grief
Book:Oliver Twist
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“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

IfsMenWellsMaySaidAliveTinyChristmasBlessPossessedGod BlessInspirational ChristmasChristmas DayCarolsBest ChristmasChristmas MagicHoliday TraditionsChristmas CarolChristmas GivingBelieving In ChristmasMemorable Christmas
Book:A Christmas Carol
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