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Thomas de Quincey

Thomas de Quincey Quotes

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Famous Thomas de Quincey Quotes

“Far better, and more cheerfully, I could dispense with some part of the downright necessaries of life, than with certain circumstances of elegance and propriety in the daily habits of using them.”

CertainHabitCircumstancesEleganceRefinementProprietyDaily Habits
Book:De Quincey's Writings: Life and manners; from The autobiography of an English opium-eater. 1851
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“Cows are amongst the gentlest of breathing creatures; none show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them; and, in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures.”

ShowsYoungAnimalQuietCreaturesPassionateBreathingAshamedCowsTendernessDeprivedDeep LoveAnimal WelfareLiving CreaturesPet Animals
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Thomas De Quincey (Illustrated)
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“But my way of writing is rather to think aloud, and follow my own humours, than much to consider who is listening to me; and, if I stop to consider what is proper to be said to this or that person, I shall soon come to doubt whether any part at all is proper.”

IfsThinkingWayWritingPersonsSaidMy OwnDoubtHumourListeningMy Way
Book:Confessions of an English Opium-Eater: Being an Extract from the Life of a Scholar
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“here was the secret of happiness, about which philosophers had disputed for so many ages, at once discovered; happiness might now be bought for a penny, and carried in the waistcoat-pocket; portable ecstasies might be had corked up in a pint-bottle; and peace of mind could be sent down by the mail.”

MindMightAgeSecretPhilosopherPocketsPeace Of MindBottlesEcstasyMailPenniesPints
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Thomas De Quincey (Illustrated)
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“There is a necessity for a regulating discipline of exercise that, whilst evoking the human energies, will not suffer them to be wasted.”

HumansSufferingEnergyDisciplineExerciseFitnessHealth And FitnessFitness MotivationalPhysical ActivityPhysical ExercisePhysical FitnessHealth FitnessExercise And HealthExercise HealthFitness WorkoutGym FitnessExercise And FitnessGreat Exercise
Book:De Quincey's Writings: Essays on philosophical writers and other men of letters. 1854-60. [v. 14 stereotyped
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“It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety.”

MenSaidLanguageDrinkDrinkingAlcoholContraryBeerAlcoholicsDrankLiquorSobrietyDrinking AlcoholFunny DrinkingBeer DrinkingDrinking BeerFunny AlcoholAlcohol DrinkingDrinking FunnyLiquor FunnyAlcoholic Drinks
Book:Confessions of an English Opium-Eater: Being an Extract from the Life of a Scholar
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“I stood checked for a moment - awe, not fear, fell upon me - and whist I stood, a solemn wind began to blow, the most mournful that ever ear heard. Mournful! That is saying nothing. It was a wind that had swept the fields of mortality for a hundred centuries.”

MomentsHeardCenturyFieldsWindHundredEarsBlowAweMortalitySolemnSaying Nothing
Book:Confessions of an English Opium-eater: And Suspiria de Profundis
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“All is finite in the present; and even that finite is infinite in it velocity of flight towards death. But in God there is nothing finite...Upon a night of earthquake he builds a thousand years of pleasant habitations for man. Upon the sorrow of an infant he raises oftentimes from human intellects glorious vintages that could not else have been.”

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Author:Thomas de Quincey
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“Flowers... that are so pathetic in their beauty, frail as the clouds, and in their coloring as gorgeous as the heavens, had through thousands of years been the heritage of children - honored as the jewelry of God only by them - when suddenly the voice of Christianity, counter-signing the voice of infancy, raised them to a grandeur transcending the Hebrew throne, although founded by God himself, and pronounced Solomon in all his glory not to be arrayed like one of these.”

YearsChildrenHeavenVoiceChristianityFlowerGloryRaisedCloudsHeritageThronesHonoredGorgeousPatheticJewelryGrandeurInfancyHebrewSigningFrailTranscendingSolomon
Author:Thomas de Quincey
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