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Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens Quotes

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Famous Charles Dickens Quotes

“For who can wonder that man should feel a vague belief in tales of disembodied spirits wandering through those places which they once dearly affected, when he himself, scarcely less separated from his old world than they, is for ever lingering upon past emotions and bygone times, and hovering, the ghost of his former self, about the places and people that warmed his heart of old?”

PeopleMenWorldFeelsShouldHeartSelfPastSpiritBeliefEmotionWonderGhostTalesWanderFormerAffectedVagueSpookyOld WorldLingeringHovering
Book:The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Other Stories
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“It is an exquisite and beautiful thing in our nature, that, when the heart is touched and softened by some tranquil happiness or affectionate feeling, the memory of the dead comes over it most powerfully and irresistibly. It would seem almost as though our better thoughts and sympathies were charms, in virtue of which the soul is enabled to hold some vague and mysterious intercourse with the spirits of those whom we loved in life. Alas! how often and how long may these patient angels hover around us, watching for the spell which is so soon forgotten!”

HeartMayLongSoulFeelingsSeemsBeautifulDeathSpiritMemoriesVirtueAngelPatientForgottenMysteriousCharmTouchedOver ItMost PowerfulSpellsBeautiful ThingsVagueAlasExquisiteIntercourseTranquilAffectionate
Author:Charles Dickens
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“Upon the purple tree-tops far away, and on the green height near at hand up which the shades were slowly creeping, there was an equal hush. Between the real landscape and its shadow in the water, there was no division; both were so untroubled and clear, and, while so fraught with solemn mystery of life and death, so hopefully reassuring to the gazer's soothed heart, because so tenderly and mercifully beautiful.”

HeartRealHandsBeautifulWaterNatureClearMysteryTreeEqualShadowGreenHopefullyLandscapeHeightLife And DeathDivisionShadeFar AwayPurpleSolemnHushReassuringMystery Of LifeHands UpTree Tops
Book:The Works of Charles Dickens: Little Dorrit
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“Of all the ruinous and desolate places my uncle had ever beheld, this was the most so. It looked as if it had once been a large house of entertainment; but the roof had fallen in, in many places, and the stairs were steep, rugged, and broken. There was a huge fire-place in the room into which they walked, and the chimney was blackened with smoke; but no warm blaze lighted it up now. The white feathery dust of burnt wood was still strewed over the hearth, but the stove was cold, and all was dark and gloomy.”

IfsHeartStillsHouseDarkWhiteRoomsFireHugeBrokenColdEntertainmentWoodsWarmDustSmokeFallenRoofUnclesStairsGloomySpookySteepDesolateChimneysRuggedStoves
Book:The posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club
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“You anticipate what I would say, though you cannot know how earnestly I say it, how earnestly I feel it, without knowing my secret heart, and the hopes and fears and anxieties with which it has long been laden. Dear Doctor Manette, I love your daughter fondly, dearly, disinterestedly, devotedly. If ever there were love in the world, I love her.”

IfsKnowsWorldLoveFeelsHeartLongSecretKnow HowKnowingLove YouAnxietyDaughterDoctorsDearAnticipateOur DaughterYour DaughterHopes And Fears
Book:a tale of two cities
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“Her heart-is given him, with all its love and truth. She would joyfully die with him, or, better than that, die for him. She knows he has failings, but she thinks they have grown up through his being like one cast away, for the want of something to trust in, and care for, and think well of.”

ThinkingKnowsWantLoveWellsHeartCareDiesGivenFailingCastsTruth And LoveCast Away
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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“I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly settle in my mind is, that the end will absolutely come. I hold her hand in mine, I hold her heart in mine, I see her love for me, alive in all its strength. I cannot shut out a pale lingering shadow of belief that she will be spared.”

LoveMindHeartMayEndsDoneHandsBeliefAliveMinesShadowSettlingPaleConsoleLingering
Book:The Personal History of David Copperfield
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“Now, Bella suspected by this time that Mr. Rokesmith admired her. Whether the knowledge (for it was rather that than suspicion) caused her to incline to him a little more, or a little less, than she had done at first; whether it rendered her eager to find out more about him, because she sought to establish reason for her distrust, or because she sought to free him from it; was as yet dark to her own heart. But at most times he occupied a great amount of her attention.”

LoveFirstsHeartLittlesReasonDoneDarkAttentionAmountSuspicionDistrustIncline
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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“Mrs. Lammle's manner changed under the poor silly girl's embraces, and she turned extremely pale: directing one appealing look, first to Mrs. Boffin, and then to Mr. Boffin. Both understood her instantly, with a more delicate subtlety than much better educated people, whose perception came less directly from the heart, could have brought to bear upon the case.”

PeopleFirstsLooksHeartCharacterGirlInterestingPoorCasesChangedBearsPerceptionUnderstoodEmbraceSillyEducatedDelicatePaleSubtletyInteresting CharactersSilly Girl
Book:Our Mutual Friend
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“It was a dagger in the haughty father's heart, an arrow in his brain, to see how the flesh and blood he could not disown clung to this obscure stranger, and he sitting by. Not that he cared to whom his daughter turned, or from whom turned away. The swift sharp agony struck through him, as he thought of what his son might do.”

HeartCharacterMightFatherInterestingBrainBloodSonDaughterSittingStrangerFleshAgonyObscureArrowsFlesh And BloodDaggersInteresting CharactersHaughty
Book:Dombey and Son ... With frontispiece by H. K. Browne
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“Notwithstanding his very liberal laudation of himself, however, the Major was selfish. It may be doubted whether there ever was a more entirely selfish person at heart; or at stomach is perhaps a better expression, seeing that he was more decidedly endowed with that latter organ than with the former.”

HeartMayPersonsCharacterInterestingSeeingExpressionMajorsSelfishFormerLatterStomachOrgansDoubtedInteresting CharactersSelfish Person
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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“Why am I always at war with myself? Why have I told, as if upon compulsion, what I knew all along I ought to have withheld? Why am I making a friend of this woman beside me, in spite of the whispers against her that I hear in my heart?”

IfsHeartWarCharacterInterestingOughtMy HeartSpiteCompulsionInteresting Characters
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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“If you could say, with truth, to your own solitary heart, to-night, 'I have secured to myself the love and attachment, the gratitude or respect, of no human creature; I have won myself a tender place in no regard; I have done nothing good or serviceable to be remembered by!' your seventy-eight years would be seventy-eight heavy curses; would they not?”

IfsInspirationalYearsHumansHeartDoneWould BeNightGratitudeCreaturesRegardHeavyEightRememberedCurseAttachmentSolitarySeventiesSecuredBe Remembered By
Book:A tale of two cities, with intr., notes, and analytical list of characters
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“'I believe, Mr. Snitchey,' said Alfred, 'there are quiet victories and struggles, great sacrifices of self, and noble acts of heroism, in it - even in many of its apparent lightnesses and contradictions - not the less difficult to achieve, because they have no earthly chronicle or audience - done every day in nooks and corners, and in little households, and in men's and women's hearts - any one of which might reconcile the sternest man to such a world, and fill him with belief and hope in it.”

MenWorldInspirationalBelieveHeartLittlesSaidSelfDoneMightBeliefI BelieveDifficultAudienceStruggleSacrificeAchieveVictoryQuietCornersNobleContradictionHeroismHouseholdReconcileLightnessChroniclesGreat SacrificeActs Of Heroism
Book:The Complete Works of Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books
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“"I go so far as to say, miss, morehover," proceeded Mr. Cruncher, with a most alarming tendency to hold forth as from a pulpit-"and let my words be took down and took to Mrs. Cruncher through yourself-that wot my opinions respectin' flopping has undergone a change, and that wot I only hope with all my heart as Mrs. Cruncher may be a flopping at the present time."”

HeartMayFunnyOpinionMissingMy HeartHumorousDown AndTendenciesPulpitPresent TimeWotFlopping
Book:A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations (Oprah's Book Club): Two Novels
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“On summer evenings, when every flower, and tree, and bird, might have better addressed my soft young heart, I have in my day been caught in the palm of a female hand by the crown, have been violently scrubbed from the neck to the roots of the hair as a purification for the Temple, and have then been carried off highly charged with saponaceous electricity, to be steamed like a potato in the unventilated breath of the powerful Boanerges Boiler and his congregation, until what small mind I had, was quite steamed out of me”

MindHeartHas BeensHandsMightFunnyYoungPowerfulTreeFlowerHairSummerBirdHumorousFemaleRootsBreathsCaughtEveningNecksTemplesCrownsElectricityPalmsPotatoesCongregationPurificationSmall MindsYoung At HeartBoilerSummer Evening
Book:Novels
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“Then, at the end of every hand, Miss Bolo would inquire with a dismal countenance and reproachful sigh, why Mr. Pickwick had not returned that diamond, or led the club, or roughed the spade, or finessed the heart, or led through the honour, or brought out the ace, or played up to the king, or some such thing; and in reply to all these grave charges, Mr. Pickwick would be wholly unable to plead any justification whatever, having by this time forgotten all about the game.”

HeartEndsHandsWould BeFunnyGamesMissingKingsHumorousForgottenClubsGravesHonourDiamondJustificationSighCountenanceSpadesAces
Book:The posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club
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“Dombey and Son had often dealt in hides, but never in hearts. They left that fancy ware to boys and girls, and boarding-schools and books. Mr. Dombey would have reasoned: That a matrimonial alliance with himself must, in the nature of things, be gratifying and honourable to any woman of common sense. That the hope of giving birth to a new partner in such a house, could not fail to awaken a glorious and stirring ambition in the breast of the least ambitious of her sex.”

GivingHeartBookSchoolFunnyGirlHouseLeftSexCommonBoysFailingSonBirthAmbitionHumorousPartnersCommon SenseFancyGloriousBreastsAmbitiousAlliancesStirringBoy And GirlGiving Birth
Author:Charles Dickens
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“"There are strings," said Mr. Tappertit, flourishing his bread-and-cheese knife in the air, "in the human heart that had better not be wibrated..."”

HumansHeartSaidAirWords Of WisdomBreadStringsKnivesCheeseHuman HeartFlourishingBread And Cheese
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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“I know nothing of philosophical philanthropy. But I know what I have seen, and what I have looked in the face in this world here, where I find myself. And I tell you this, my friend, that there are people (men and women both, unfortunately) who have no good in them-none. That there are people whom it is necessary to detest without compromise. That there are people who must be dealt with as enemies of the human race. That there are people who have no human heart, and who must be crushed like savage beasts and cleared out of the way.”

PeopleKnowsMenWorldWayHumansHeartFacesRaceEnemyThis WorldWords Of WisdomMen And WomenMy FriendsPhilosophicalCompromiseHuman RaceBeastSavagesPhilanthropyHuman HeartCrushedDetest
Book:THE GREATEST DICKENS CLASSICS (Illustrated Edition): Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend, The Life of Dickens
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“How could you give me life, and take from me all the inappreciable things that raise it from the state of conscious death? Where are the graces of my soul? Where are the sentiments of my heart? What have you done, oh, Father, What have you done with the garden that should have bloomed once, in this great wilderness here? Said louisa as she touched her heart.”

GivingShouldHeartSaidSoulStatesDoneFatherGraceMy HeartConsciousGardenShould HaveGive MeRaisesMy SoulTouchedWildernessSentiments
Book:Hard Times
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“You have been so careful of me that I never had a child's heart. You have trained me so well that I never dreamed a child's dream. You have dealt so wisely with me, Father ,from my cradle to this hour, that I never had a child's belief or a child's fear. Mr. Gradgrind was quite moved by his success, and by this testimony to it. " My dear Louisa," said he, you abundantly repay my care. Kiss me, my dear girl.”

WellsHeartChildrenHas BeensSaidDreamCareGirlFatherBeliefHoursKissingMovedDearCarefulTestimonyCradleKiss MeDreams You Have
Book:Hard Times
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“But tears were not the things to find their way to Mr. Bumble’s soul; his heart was waterproof. Like washable beaver hats that improve with rain, his nerves were rendered stouter and more vigorous, by showers of tears, which, being tokens of weakness, and so far tacit admissions of his own power, pleased and exalted him.”

WayHeartSoulTearsWeaknessRainHatsNervesShowersVigorousExaltedAdmissionTokensBeaversTacit
Book:The Complete Works of Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
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“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.”

MenWorldHeartPrinciplesWords Of WisdomExpectationsWoodsGentlemanGrainGreat ExpectationsGreat Expectations ImportantTrue Gentleman
Book:British Classics: Great Expectations
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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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“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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