“But the inexplicability of the General's conduct dwelt much on her thoughts. That he was very particular in his eating, she had, by her own unassisted observation, already discovered; but why should he say one thing so positively, and mean another all the while, was most unaccountable. How were people, at that rate, to be understood?”
Source: Northanger abbey
“The truth is that we were so spiritually and morally bankrupt that we could not even see some of those lines: we stepped over them blindly. Other times we saw the lines alright, but we wanted to cross them. Alcohol gave us the false courage to do it and numbed our conscience as we did. Alcohol was the great enabler, and the great anesthetic. It wasn’t God who was dead. We were. – p. 116”
Source: Practice These Principles: Living the Spiritual Disciplines and Virtues in 12-Step Recovery to Achieve Spiritual Growth, Character Development, and Emotional Sobriety
“Orozco's despair was not just in finding himself poor, but in discovering that effort, honest intentions, and gentlemanly status had nothing to do with sucess in a commercial economy.”
Source: Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
“Deep layers of context are missed when cursorily reading for quantity at the expense of comprehension - only the vapid are impressed by those who try to squeeze as many books as possible into each passing month as if shoving one more oiled hot dog down the gullet in a food eating contest to prove accumulation superiority.”
“Wohlgeachtet ist der Mann, dessen Maß Rechtschaffenheit ist, und dessen Wandel sich danach richtet.”
“Honesty, like any inclination, can become a ruling passion, a monomania almost.”
Source: Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
“Later was taking too long.”
Source: 21st Century Intolerant: A collection of short stories about the struggles of modern life, from the trivial to the terrifying.
“Enrich yourselves!”
“It is a great evil to look upon mankind with too clear vision. You seem to be living among wild beasts, and you become a wild beast yourself. ("“The Story of Prince Alasi and the Princess Firouzkah”)”
Source: The Episodes of Vathek
“You really are like him, your father."
"I can't tell whether you think that's good or bad."
"What does it matter? It's simply true.”
Source: The Near Witch