Family Quotes

It was the first time it had ever occurred to me, that this detestable cant of false humility might have originated out of the Heep family. I had seen the harvest, but had never thought of the seed. ~ David Copperfield by Charles Dickens "Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families." ~ David Copperfield by Charles Dickens "There are some trees, Watson, which grow to a certain height and then suddenly develop some unsightly eccentricity. You will see it often in humans. I have a theory that the individual represents in his development the whole procession of his ancestors, and that such a sudden turn to good or evil stands for some strong influence which came into the line of his pedigree. The person becomes, as it were, the epitome of the history of his own family." ~ The Adventure of the Empty House by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle When a man with the constitution of Montague Dartie has exercised self control for months from religious motives, and remains unrewarded, he does not curse God and die, he curses God and lives, to the distress of his family. ~ The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy "When I speak of home, I speak of the place where -- in default of a better -- those I love are gathered together; and if that place were a gypsy's tent, or a barn, I should call it by the same good name notwithstanding." ~ Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!" ~ King Lear by William Shakespeare Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land. ~ Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens "Ecod, you may say what you like of my father, then, and so I give you leave," said Jonas. "I think it's liquid aggravation that circulates through his veins, and not regular blood." ~ Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens One of these flaws was, that having been long taught by his father to over-reach everybody he had imperceptibly acquired a love of over-reaching that venerable monitor himself. The other, that from his early habits of considering everything as a question of property, he had gradually come to look, with impatience, on his parent as a certain amount of personal estate, which had no right whatever to be going at large, but ought to be secured in that particular description of iron safe which is commonly called a coffin, and banked in the grave. ~ Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens "But your mind is warped by an innate principle of general integrity, and therefore not accessible to the cool reasonings of family partiality, or a desire of revenge." ~ Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen