Thomas Hardy Quotes - Page 19 | Just Great DataBase

Two ardent hearts against one poor little conscience

The roof was a gymnasium for the winds

She remained mute, not knowing that he was smothering his affection for her. She hardly observed that a tear descended slowly upon his cheek, a tear so large that it magnified the pores of the skin over which it rolled, like the object lens of a microscope.

They did not vary their partners if their inclination were to stick to previous ones.Changing partners simply meant that a satisfactory choice had not as yet been arrived at by one or other of the pair, and by this time every couple had been suitably matched. It was then that the ecstasy and the dream began, in which emotion was the matter of the universe, and matter but an adventitious intrusion likely to hinder you from spinning where you wanted to spin.

Her one desire, so long resisted, to make herself his, to call him her lord, her own—then,

Feeling had indeed smothered judgment that day.

Because nobody could love 'ee more than Tess did! … She would have laid down her life for 'ee. I could do no more.

Because 'tis always mournful not to be wanted, even if at the same time 'tis convenient.

the marginal minute of the dark when the grove is still mute, save for one prophetic bird who sings with a clear-voiced conviction that he at least knows the correct time of day, the rest preserving silence as if equally convinced that he is mistaken.

Izz spoke with a magnanimous abandonment of herself to the situation; she could not be—no woman with a heart bigger than a hazel-nut could be—antagonistic to Tess in her presence, the influence which she exercised over those of her own sex being of a warmth and strength quite unusual, curiously overpowering the less worthy feminine feelings of spite and rivalry.

The cow and horse tracks in the road were full of water, the rain having been enough to charge them, but not enough to wash them away. Across these minute pools the reflected stars flitted in a quick transit as she passed; she would not have known they were shining overhead if she had not seen them there—the vastest things of the universe imaged in objects so mean.

The gray half-tones of daybreak are not the gray half-tones of the day's close, though the degree of their shade may be the same. In the twilight of the morning, light seems active, darkness passive; in the twilight of evening it is the darkness which is active and crescent, and the light which is the drowsy reverse.

Ich finde, wenn Kinder geboren werden, die man nicht haben will, dann sollten sie gleich tot gemacht werden, ehe sie Seelen kriegen, und man sollte sie gar nicht groß werden und herum laufen lassen!

Sheer experience had already taught her that in some circumstances there was one thing better than to lead a good life, and that was to be saved from leading any life whatever.

Distinction doesn't consist in the facile use of a contemptible set of conventions, but in being numbered among those whose are true, and honest, and just, and pure, and lovely, and of good report

La bellezza per lei, come per tutti quelli che hanno molto sentito, non risiedeva nelle cose ma in ciò che esse simboleggiavano

Each pedestrian could see no halo but his or her own, which never deserted the head-shadow, whatever its vulgar unsteadiness might be; but adhered to it, and persistently beautified it; till the erratic motions seemed an inherent part of the irradiation, and the fumes of their breathing a component of the night's mist; and the spirit of the scene, and of the moonlight, and of Nature, seemed harmoniously to mingle with the spirit of wine.

I am only a peasant by position, not by nature!

Se Tess avesse potuto afferrare l'importanza dell'incontro si sarebbe chiesta perché quel giorno fosse destinata a essere notata e desiderata dall'uomo sbagliato e nondall'altro: quello giusto amato sotto tutti gli aspetti; quasi che l'umanità fosse in grado di poter sempre offrire ciò che è giusto e che è desiderato. Ma l'uomo che poteva avvicinarsi al suo ideale, tra i ragazzi conosciuti, non era per Tess che un'impressione fugace e quasi dimenticata.Nella difettosa esecuzione del piano ben disposto dell'universo, raramente l'invito provoca l'arrivo di chi si invoca, e raramente si incontra l'uomo da amare, quando viene l'ora per l'amore. La natura non dice troppo spesso "guarda" alla povera creatura nel momento in cui il guardare potrebbeportare a una lieta conclusione; né risponde "qui" alla carne che grida "dove?"; finché tutto questo nascondersi e cercarsi diventa un gioco penoso e senza mordente.Potremmo chiederci se all'acme e alla sommità dell'umano progresso questi anacronismi saranno modificati da un'intuizione migliore, da un più stretto rapporto reciproco nell'ingranaggio sociale, che non ci scuota in ogni direzione, come ora; ma non si può predire un simile ideale, forse nemmeno concepirlo come possibile. Così, anche nel caso attuale, come in milioni di altri, le due parti di un perfetto insieme non si sono incontrate al momento perfetto: la controparte assente,vagando indipendente per la terra, aspetta in crassa ottusità un tempo che giungerà sempre troppo tardi.

Nature does not often say "See!" to her poor creature at a time when seeing can lead to happy doing; or reply "Here!" to a body's cry of "Where?