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T. H. White

T. H. White Quotes

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Famous T. H. White Quotes

“They had a year of joy, twelve months of the strange heaven which the salmon know on beds of river shingle, under the gin-clear water. For twenty-four years they were guilty, but this first year was the only one which seemed like happiness. Looking back on it, when they were old, they did not remember that in this year it had ever rained or frozen. The four seasons were coloured like the edge of a rose petal for them.”

KnowsYearsFirstsRememberJoyHeavenWaterClearFourStrangeMonthsBedRiversSeasonsTwentiesRoseEdgesGuiltyFour YearsTwelveLooking BackFrozenPetalsGinSalmonFour SeasonsRose PetalsClear WaterShingles
Author:T. H. White
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“My boy, you shall be everything in the world, animal, vegetable, mineral, protista, or virus, for all I care-before I have done with you-but you will have to trust my superior backsight. The time is not yet ripe for you to be a hawk... so you may as well sit down for the moment and learn to be a human being.”

WorldHumansWellsMayDoneMomentsCareHuman BeingsAnimalBoysSuperiorsVegetablesI CareVirusesRipeMineralsHawksMy BoysDone With You
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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“The nice thing about the queen of Flanders' daughter, had been that she did not laugh at him. A lot of people laughed at you when you went after the Questing Beast - and never caught it - but Piggy never laughed. She seemed to understand at once how interesting it was, and made several sensible suggestions about the way to trap it. Naturally, one did not pretend to be clever or anything, but it was nice not to be laughed at. One was doing one's best.”

PeopleWayMadeInterestingLaughingNiceDaughterCaughtCleverQueensBeastLaughedSensibleTrapsSuggestionsNice ThingsPiggyFlanders
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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“He did not like the grown-ups who talked down to him, but the ones who went on talking in their usual way, leaving him to leap along in their wake, jumping at meanings, guessing, clutching at known words, and chuckling at complicated jokes as they suddenly dawned. He had the glee of the porpoise then, pouring and leaping through strange seas.”

WayTalkingKnownSeaStrangeJokesLeavingComplicatedLeapUsualJumpingPouringGuessingGleeLeaving HimPorpoises
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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“You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn.”

KnowsWorldInspirationalMindMayLyingNightEvilGrowsEducationTeacherOne ThingLove YouMissingListeningAwakeHonourDisorderVeinsTremblingOnly LoveAnatomyDevastatedTeaching And EducationTeaching EducationSewersAwake At NightWags
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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“Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

WorldInspirationalMindLooksDreamEducationLearningStudentsRegretDistrustDevastatedTeaching And EducationNever FearTeaching EducationSewersWagsWhat Is Education
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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“Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness.”

IfsSometimesWould BeBeautifulLife IsCertainSimpleExistenceHellMinesMiserableIf I CouldSaltBotheredSimple Life
Book:The Maharajah and Other Stories
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“The unicorn was white, with hoofs of silver and graceful horn of pearl... The glorious thing about him was his eye. There was a faint bluish furrow down each side of his nose, and this led to the eye sockets, and surrounded them in a pensive shade. The eyes, circled by this sad and beautiful darkness, were so sorrowful, lonely, gentle and nobly tragic, that they killed all other emotions except love.”

EyeBeautifulSidesWhiteEmotionDarknessLonelyNosesGentleGloriousHis EyesTragicSilverShadePearlsHornsUnicornSorrowfulPensive
Author:T. H. White
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“Why can't you harness Might so that it works for Right? I know it sounds nonsense, but, I mean, you can't just say there is no such thing. The Might is there, in the bad half of people, and you can't neglect it. You can't cut it out but you might be able to direct it, if you see what I mean, so that it was useful instead of bad.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMeanMightAbleSoundHalfCuttingDirectNonsenseNeglectHarness
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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“Believe me, the so-called primitive races who worshipped animals as gods were not so daft as people choose to pretend. At least they were humble. Why should not God have come to the earth as an earth-worm? There are a great many more worms than men, and they do a great deal more good.”

PeopleMenShouldBelieveEarthAnimalDealsRaceHumbleGreat MenPrimitiveBelieve In MeWormsDaft
Book:The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once and Future King
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“We find that at present the human race is divided politically into one wise man, nine knaves, and ninety fools out of every hundred. That is, by an optimistic observer. The nine knaves assemble themselves under the banner of the most knavish among them, and become politicians; the wise man stands out, because he knows himself to be hopelessly out-numbered, and devotes himself to poetry, mathematics or philosophy; while the ninety fools plod off behind the banners of the nine villains, according to fancy, into the labyrinths of chicanery, malice and warfare.”

KnowsMenHumansPhilosophyRaceBehindsWiseFoolPoliticianHundredMathematicsNineOptimisticHuman RaceFancyDividedVillainWarfareStanding OutObserversNinetyMaliceLabyrinthBannerKnavesChicanery
Author:T. H. White
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“The weather behaved itself. In the spring, the little flowers came out obediently in the meads, and the dew sparkled, and the birds sang. In the summer it was beautifully hot for no less than four months, and, if it did rain just enough for agricultural purposes, they managed to arrange it so that it rained while you were in bed. In the autumn the leaves flamed and rattled before the west winds, tempering their sad adieu with glory. And in the winter, which was confined by statute to two months, the snow lay evenly, three feet thick, but never turned into slush.”

IfsLittlesTwoEnoughPurposeThreeFourFeetWindFlowerMonthsBedSummerSpringGloryBirdRainHotLaysWestWinterSnowWeatherAutumnThickConfinedDewTwo MonthsStatutesMeadAdieuSlush
Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
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