Charles Dickens Quotes

There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.

4748

There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.

3285

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.

2498

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

2197

It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.

1252

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

1171

You have been the last dream of my soul.

1140

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

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I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.

807

Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.

718

‎And yet I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire.

574

My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.

539

You are fettered," said Scrooge, trembling. "Tell me why?""I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.

531

There is a wisdom of the head, and... there is a wisdom of the heart.

495

It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.

381

A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self.

377

For you, and for any dear to you, I would do anything. If my career were of that better kind that there was any opportunity or capacity of sacrifice in it, I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. Try to hold me in your mind, at some quiet times, as ardent and sincere in this one thing. The time will come, the time will not be long in coming, when new ties will be formed about you--ties that will bind you yet more tenderly and strongly to the home you so adorn--the dearest ties that will ever grace and gladden you. O Miss Manette, when the little picture of a happy father's face looks up in yours, when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!

365

I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

364

There is prodigious strength in sorrow and despair.

353

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

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