“Nobody can spoil a life, my dear. That’s nonsense. Things happen, but we bob up.” ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
Photo by Eleonora Patricola on Unsplash
Tag Archives: John Galsworthy
Seven Literary Quotes About History
History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again. ~ A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. ~ Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness. ~ The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
“Men get tired of everything, of heaven no less than of hell; and that all history is nothing but a record of the oscillations of the world between these two extremes. An epoch is but a swing of the pendulum; and each generation thinks the world is progressing because it is always moving.” ~ Man And Superman by George Bernard Shaw
Events are as much the parents of the future as they were the children of the past. ~ Saint’s Progress by John Galsworthy
There was a great historian lost in Wolverstone. He had the right imagination that knows just how far it is safe to stray from the truth and just how far to colour it so as to change its shape for his own purposes. ~ Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years.” ~ O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
See More Quotes from Literature about History
7 Quotes About Gossip From Literature
“My own business always bores me to death. I prefer other people’s.” ~ Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
“Gossip is never fatal, Georgie,” he said, “until it is denied.” ~ The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
Grace Stepney’s mind was like a kind of moral fly-paper, to which the buzzing items of gossip were drawn by a fatal attraction, and where they hung fast in the toils of an inexorable memory. ~ The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
There was a lady at Santarem–but my lips are sealed. It is the part of a gallant man to say nothing, though he may indicate that he could say a great deal. ~ The Crime of The Brigadier by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The talked-about is always the last to hear the talk. ~ Saint’s Progress by John Galsworthy
There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink. ~ Penrod by Booth Tarkington
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” ~ The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
More Quotes About Gossip From Literature
The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
20 Literary Quotes to Motivate You
Let’s face it. Life can be tough. To help get you through, here are twenty of the best motivational quotes that literature has to offer . . .
If you need something to worship, then worship life — all life, every last crawling bit of it! We’re all in this beauty together! ~ Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
Even on this small stage we have our two sides, and something might be done by throwing all one’s weight on the scale of breadth, tolerance, charity, temperance, peace, and kindliness to man and beast. We can’t all strike very big blows, and even the little ones count for something. ~ The Stark Munro Letters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. ~ Paradise Lost by John Milton
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit From pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul. ~ Invictus by William Ernest Henley
“I say that the strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.” ~ Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
“I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.” ~ David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
“Look at that sea, girls–all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.” ~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
“People are always blaming circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” ~ Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw
The Sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on. ~ The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
“Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes.” ~ Coningsby by Benjamin Disraeli
“As long as the heart beats, as long as body and soul keep together, I cannot admit that any creature endowed with a will has need to despair of life.” ~ Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
“Love has no age, no limit; and no death.” ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
“There are times, young fellah, when every one of us must make a stand for human right and justice, or you never feel clean again.” ~ The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.” ~ Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
“The sun does not shine upon this fair earth to meet frowning eyes, depend upon it.” ~ Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
“That is one good thing about this world. . .there are always sure to be more springs.” ~ Anne Of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Come what may, I am bound to think that all things are ordered for the best; though when the good is a furlong off, and we with our beetle eyes can only see three inches, it takes some confidence in general principles to pull us through. ~ The Stark Munro Letters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action.” ~ Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast. ~ The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
See More Literary Quotes to Motivate You
Dawn Has The Power
Dawn has power to fertilise the most matter-of-fact vision. ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
40 Love Quotes from Literature
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind. ~ A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
“I do love you surely in a better way than he does.” He thought. “Yes—really in a better way. I want you to have your own thoughts even when I hold you in my arms.” ~ A Room With A View by E. M. Forster
“God’s law is only Love.” ~ A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
I ask you to pass through life at my side—to be my second self, and best earthly companion. ~ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all the year, and blessing those who give and those who receive. ~ Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear. ~ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends. ~ A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
“I don’t want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want you.” ~ Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
That which is loved may pass, but love hath no end. ~ Parables Of A Province by Gilbert Parker
The winds were warm about us, the whole earth seemed the wealthier for our love. ~ The Amber Gods by Harriet Prescott Spofford
“I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.” ~ David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. ~ Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Young men’s love, then, lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. ~ Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
She had found her heart at last. Never having known its worth till now, she had never known the worth of his. ~ Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens
It is best to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all. ~ The History of Pendennis by William Makepeace Thackeray
“Love has no age, no limit; and no death.” ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
Maggie said that love was the flower of life, and blossomed unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it was found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration. ~ The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.” ~ Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare
“Love knows not distance; it hath no continent; its eyes are for the stars.” ~ Parables Of A Province by Gilbert Parker
How is it that the poets have said so many fine things about our first love, so few about our later love? Are their first poems their best? Or are not those the best which come from their fuller thought, their larger experience, their deeper-rooted affections? ~ Adam Bede by George Eliot
Love, it is said, is blind, but love is not blind. It is an extra eye, which shows us what is most worthy of regard. To see the best is to see most clearly, and it is the lover’s privilege. ~ The Little Minister by James M. Barrie
“Love of man for woman–love of woman for man. That’s the nature, the meaning, the best of life itself.” ~ Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
“I loved you madly; in the distasteful work of the day, in the wakeful misery of the night, girded by sordid realities, or wandering through Paradises and Hells of visions into which I rushed, carrying your image in my arms, I loved you madly.” ~ The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
“We are all born for love,” said Morley. “It is the principle of existence, and its only end.” ~ Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete. ~ The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.” ~ Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
“The best of life is built on what we say when we’re in love. It isn’t nonsense, Katharine,” she urged, “it’s the truth, it’s the only truth.” ~ Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
Love is no hot-house flower, but a wild plant, born of a wet night, born of an hour of sunshine; sprung from wild seed, blown along the road by a wild wind. A wild plant that, when it blooms by chance within the hedge of our gardens, we call a flower; and when it blooms outside we call a weed; but, flower or weed, whose scent and colour are always, wild! ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
She lifted her face to him, and he bent forward and kissed her on the mouth, gently, with the one kiss that is an eternal pledge. And as he kissed her his heart strained again in his breast. He never intended to love her. But now it was over. He had crossed over the gulf to her, and all that he had left behind had shrivelled and become void. ~ The Horse Dealer’s Daughter by D. H. Lawrence
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” ~ Emma by Jane Austen
“Men always want to be a woman’s first love. That is their clumsy vanity. We women have a more subtle instinct about things. What we like is to be a man’s last romance.” ~ A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
She loved him with too clear a vision to fear his cloudiness. ~ Howards End by E. M. Forster
“I see you everywhere, in the stars, in the river; to me you’re everything that exists; the reality of everything.” ~ Night and Day by Virginia Woolf
“Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,
Too rude, too boist’rous; and it pricks like thorn.” ~ Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” ~ Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The course of true love never did run smooth. ~ A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
“Those who speak of love most promiscuously are the ones who’ve never felt it. They make some sort of feeble stew out of sympathy, compassion, contempt and general indifference, and they call it love. Once you’ve felt what it means to love as you and I know it–the total passion for the total height–you’re incapable of anything less.” ~ The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
“You are my heart, my life, my one and only thought.” ~ The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“Who, being loved, is poor?” ~ A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
Ready for more? See our entire love quote collection.
15 Inspirational Quotes from Literature
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. ~ Invictus by William Ernest Henley
“The world is a wheel, and it will all come round right.” ~ Endymion by Benjamin Disraeli
“Look at that sea, girls–all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.” ~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
“Simple, generous goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.” ~ Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
From the death of each day’s hope another hope sprung up to live to-morrow. ~ The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. ~ Paradise Lost by John Milton
The dew seemed to sparkle more brightly on the green leaves; the air to rustle among them with a sweeter music; and the sky itself to look more blue and bright. Such is the influence which the condition of our own thoughts, exercise, even over the appearance of external objects. ~ Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
“Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes.” ~ Coningsby by Benjamin Disraeli
“I say that the strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.” ~ Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
“All things are ready, if our minds be so.” ~ Henry V by William Shakespeare
There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast. ~ The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. ~ The Awakening by Kate Chopin
“Love has no age, no limit; and no death.” ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
“You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action.” ~ Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
Come what may, I am bound to think that all things are ordered for the best; though when the good is a furlong off, and we with our beetle eyes can only see three inches, it takes some confidence in general principles to pull us through. ~ The Stark Munro Letters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
See More Inspirational Quotes from Literature
11 Quotes From Literature about Aging
“At forty you stand upon the threshold of life, with values learned and rubbish cleared away. “ ~ A Prisoner in Fairyland by Algernon Blackwood
“Anybody is liable to rheumatism in her legs, Anne. It’s only old people who should have rheumatism in their souls, though. Thank goodness, I never have. When you get rheumatism in your soul you might as well go and pick out your coffin.” ~ Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
At last, however, his conversation became unbearable–a foul young man is odious, but a foul old one is surely the most sickening thing on earth. One feels that the white upon the hair, like that upon the mountain, should signify a height attained. ~ The Stark Munro Letters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
When one grew old, the whole world was in conspiracy to limit freedom, and for what reason?–just to keep the breath in him a little longer. He did not want it at such cost. ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
Indeed, he would sometimes remark, when a man fell into his anecdotage, it was a sign for him to retire from the world. ~ Lothair by Benjamin Disraeli
“No one is ever too old to do a foolish thing.” ~ Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
“As I said just now, the world has gone past me. I don’t blame it; but I no longer understand it. Tradesmen are not the same as they used to be, apprentices are not the same, business is not the same, business commodities are not the same. Seven-eighths of my stock is old-fashioned. I am an old-fashioned man in an old-fashioned shop, in a street that is not the same as I remember it. I have fallen behind the time, and am too old to catch it again.” ~ Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
“The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. It’s only the middle-aged who are really conscious of their limitations–that is why one should be so patient with them.” ~ Reginald by Saki
Don’t ever think the poetry is dead in an old man because his forehead is wrinkled, or that his manhood has left him when his hand trembles! If they ever WERE there, they ARE there still! ~ The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
There comes with old age a time when the heart is no longer fusible or malleable, and must retain the form in which it has cooled down. ~ Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
What is the meaning of life? That was all–a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years. The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark. ~ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
40 Great Quotes from Literature
Need some advice or perspective? Here are 40 great quotes from literature that may help. These are some of our favorites from our words of wisdom quote collection.
- The mind has many watchdogs; sometimes they bark unnecessarily, but a wise man never ignores their warning. ~ A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
- Words spoken cannot be recalled. ~ He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
- People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it’s served up. ~ A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
- Fair speech may hide a foul heart. ~ The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
- It is always the unusual which alarms. ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
- It is not violence that best overcomes hate-nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury. ~ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. ~ Count Alarcos: A Tragedy by Benjamin Disraeli
- There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. ~ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
- “Words,” said the host, at length, “is worse’n bullets. You never know what they’ll hit.” ~ The Night Horseman by Max Brand
- Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you. ~ A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
- “When you’ve learned to laugh at the things that should be laughed at, and not to laugh at those that shouldn’t, you’ve got wisdom and understanding.” ~ Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The fool wonders, the wise man asks. ~ Count Alarcos: A Tragedy by Benjamin Disraeli
- “All things are ready, if our minds be so.” ~ Henry V by William Shakespeare
- “No one is ever too old to do a foolish thing.” ~ Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
- “Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble.” ~ Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
- Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within as on the state of things without and around us. ~ Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
- “Just breathing isn’t living!” ~ Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
- “Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, As self-neglecting.” ~ Henry V by William Shakespeare
- The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. ~ Paradise Lost by John Milton - To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge. ~ Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli
- “Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.” ~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- “Nobody can spoil a life, my dear. That’s nonsense. Things happen, but we bob up.” ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
- Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. ~ David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
- “Do you know anything on earth which has not a dangerous side if it is mishandled and exaggerated? “ ~ The Land of Mist by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. ~ The Awakening by Kate Chopin
- You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men. ~ Zuleika Dobson by Sir Max Beerbohm
- Unwelcome truths are not popular. ~ The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- “And, above all things, never think that you’re not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you very much at your own reckoning.” ~ The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope
- How quick come the reasons for approving what we like! ~ Persuasion by Jane Austen
- Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of of those who diffuse it: it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker. ~ Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
- “The chief proof of man’s real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.” ~ The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- She could not explain in so many words, but she felt that those who prepare for all the emergencies of life beforehand may equip themselves at the expense of joy. ~ Howards End by E. M. Forster
- He has spent his life best who has enjoyed it most. ~ The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
- Ignorance is the parent of fear. ~ Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- “Its matter was not new to me, but was presented in a new aspect. It shook me in my habit – the habit of nine-tenths of the world – of believing that all was right about me, because I was used to it.” ~ Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
- A man will tell you that he has worked in a mine for forty years unhurt by an accident as a reason why he should apprehend no danger, though the roof is beginning to sink. ~ Silas Marner by George Eliot
- The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind companion; and so let all young persons take their choice. ~ Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
- Old habit of mind is one of the toughest things to get away from in the world. It transmits itself like physical form and feature. ~ A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
- “We learn from failure, not from success!” ~ Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. ~ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
