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Charles Dickens
88 quotes
“Mr. Augustus Minns was a bachelor, of about forty as he said — of about eight-and-forty as his friends said. He was always exceedingly clean, precise, and tidy: perhaps somewhat priggish, and the most retiring man in the world.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First lines of Dicken's first published work, originally titled "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" (1833), later published as "Mr. Minns and his Cousin
“There were two classes of created objects which he held in the deepest and most unmingled horror: they were, dogs and children. He was not unamiable, but he could at any time have viewed the execution of a dog, or the assassination of an infant, with the liveliest satisfaction. Their habits were at variance with his love of order; and his love of order, was as powerful as his love of life.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Dinner at Poplar Walk" (1833), later published as "Mr. Minns and his Cousin
“If any one were to ask me what in my opinion was the dullest and most stupid spot on the face of the Earth, I should decidedly say Chelmsford.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1835 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Thomas Beard (11 January 1835), in Madeline House, et al., The Letters of Charles Dickens (1965), p. 53
“Love is not a feeling to pass away, Like the balmy breath of a summer day; It is not — it cannot be — laid aside; It is not a thing to forget or hide. It clings to the heart, ah, woe is me! As the ivy clings to the old oak tree. Love is not a passion of earthly mould, As a thirst for honour, or fame, or gold: For when all these wishes have died away, The deep strong love of a brighter day, Though nourished in secret, consumes the more, As the slow rust eats to the iron’s core.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lucy's Song in The Village Coquettes (1836); later published in The Poems and Verses of Charles Dickens (1903)
“To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1840 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Master Humphrey's Clock, (1840) Vol. 1
“The bright old day now dawns again; the cry runs through the land, In England there shall be dear bread—in Ireland, sword and brand; And poverty, and ignorance, shall swell the rich and grand, So, rally round the rulers with the gentle iron hand, Of the fine old English Tory days; Hail to the coming time!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1841 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Fine Old English Gentleman (1841)
“I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores as in these United States. No man can form an adequate idea of the real meaning of the word, without coming here.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1842 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Comment while on an American tour (March 1842), as quoted in Dickens (1949) by Hesketh Pearson, Ch. 8
“O let us love our occupations, Bless the squire and his relations, Live upon our daily rations, And always know our proper stations.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1844 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Chimes, Second Quarter (1844)
“La difficulté d'écrire l'anglais m'est extrêmement ennuyeuse. Ah, mon Dieu! si l'on pouvait toujours écrire cette belle langue de France!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Foster (7 July 1850)
“It was a good thing to have a couple of thousand people all rigid and frozen together, in the palm of one's hand.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1857 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About having a book, in a letter to Mrs. Richard Watson (7 December 1857)
“I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance, any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hunted Down (1859)
“How much longer are we English to assist foreign nations in misunderstand us, by holding up that ridiculous lay-figure of our race known by the style and title of John Bull?”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: One Grand Tour Deserves Another" in All the Year Round: A Weekly Journal (27 December 1862)
“Resisting the slow touch of a frozen finger tracing out my spine.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) first seen 1866 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Signal-Man (1866)
“(Carmine Crocco) In such a crowd, so numerous and composed of such heterogeneous elements, it might have appeared almost absurd to look for discipline; but perfect discipline there was, for, whatever his other qualities might be, Crocco most undoubtedly was a "ruler of men". His word in that band was law, and the punishment of disaffection was death.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: All the year round, Vol.15 (1876), p. 281
“The dignity of his office is never impaired by the absence of efforts on his part to maintain it.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I used to sit, think, think, thinking, till I felt as lonesome as a kitten in a wash–house copper with the lid on.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The appearance presented by the streets of London an hour before sunrise, on a summer’s morning, is most striking even to the few whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pursuits of business, cause them to be well acquainted with the scene. There is an air of cold, solitary desolation about the noiseless streets which we are accustomed to see thronged at other times by a busy, eager crowd, and over the quiet, closely-shut buildings, which throughout the day are swarming with life and bustle, that is very impressive.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Grief never mended no broken bones, and as good people’s wery scarce, what I says is, make the most on ’em.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Minerva House … was "a finishing establishment for young ladies," where some twenty girls of the ages from thirteen to nineteen inclusive, acquired a smattering of everything and a knowledge of nothing.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is the odds so long as the fire of soul is kindled at the taper of conwiviality, and the wing of friendship never moults a feather! What is the odds so long as the spirit is expanded by means of rosy wine, and the present moment is the least happiest of our existence!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She's the ornament of her sex.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To procure a refreshing sneeze at anytime by merely stepping out on the staircase (Fortunate location of Dick Swivellers "Chambers" above a Tabacconists)<”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. 7, The Comic World of Dickens. Prof.Bernard N.Schilling, Gloucester Mass. 1973. Page 137
“Send forth the child and childish man together, and blush for the pride that libels our own old happy state, and gives its title to an ugly and distorted image.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The very dogs were all asleep, and the flies, drunk with moist sugar in the grocer’s shop, forgot their wings and briskness, and baked to death in dusty corners of the window.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In mind, she was of a strong and vigorous turn, having from her earliest youth devoted herself with uncommon ardour to the study of the law; not wasting her speculations upon its eagle flights, which are rare, but tracing it attentively through all the slippery and eel-like crawlings in which it commonly pursues its way.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Under an accumulation of staggerers, no man can be considered a free agent. No man knocks himself down; if his destiny knocks him down, his destiny must pick him up again.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was a maxim with Mr. Brass that the habit of paying compliments kept a man’s tongue oiled without any expense; and that, as that useful member ought never to grow rusty or creak in turning on its hinges in the case of a practitioner of the law, in whom it should be always glib and easy, he lost few opportunities of improving himself by the utterance of handsome speeches and eulogistic expressions.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In love of home, the love of country has its rise.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That vague kind of penitence which holidays awaken next morning.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Did you ever taste beer?" "I had a sip of it once," said the small servant. "Here's a state of things!" cried Mr Swiveller, raising his eyes to the ceiling. "She never tasted it — it can't be tasted in a sip!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You will not have forgotten that it was a maxim with Foxey — our revered father, gentlemen — "Always suspect everybody." That's the maxim to go through life with!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He’s tough, ma’am,—tough is J. B.; tough and devilish sly.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I want to know what it says," he answered, looking steadily in her face. "The sea Floy, what is it that it keeps on saying?”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wal'r, my boy," replied the Captain, "in the Proverbs of Solomon you will find the following words, 'May we never want a friend in need, nor a bottle to give him!' When found, make a note of.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cows are my passion.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The bearings of this observation lays in the application on it.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“…not an orphan in the wide world can be so deserted as the child who is an outcast from a living parent’s love.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Time was," he said, "when it was well to watch even your rising little star, and know in what quarter there were clouds, to shadow you if needful. But a planet has arisen, and you are lost in its light.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you could see my legs when I take my boots off, you'd form some idea of what unrequited affection is.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“... vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is a wisdom of the Head, and … there is a wisdom of the Heart.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A prison taint was on everything there. The imprisoned air, the imprisoned light, the imprisoned damps, the imprisoned men, were all deteriorated by confinement. As the captive men were faded and haggard, so the iron was rusty, the stone was slimy, the wood was rotten, the air was faint, the light was dim. Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no knowledge of the brightness outside; and would have kept its polluted atmosphere intact, in one of the spice islands of the Indian Ocean.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am the only child of parents who weighed, measured, and priced everything; for whom what could not be weighed, measured, and priced, had no existence.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being told) the most important Department under Government. No public business of any kind could possibly be done at any time without the acquiescence of the Circumlocution Office. Its finger was in the largest public pie, and in the smallest public tart. It was equally impossible to do the plainest right and to undo the plainest wrong without the express authority of the Circumlocution Office.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving — HOW NOT TO DO IT.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Barnacles were a very high family, and a very large family. They were dispersed all over the public offices, and held all sorts of public places. Either the nation was under a load of obligation to the Barnacles, or the Barnacles were under a load of obligation to the nation. It was not quite unanimously settled which; the Barnacles having their opinion, the nation theirs.”
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source