Seasonable tokens are about. Red berries shine here and there in the lattices of Minor Canon Corner; Mr. and Mrs. Tope are daintily sticking sprigs of holly into the carvings and sconces of the Cathedral stalls, as if they were sticking them into the coat-button-holes of the Dean and Chapter. Lavish profusion is in the shops: particularly in the articles of currants, raisins, spices, candied peel, and moist sugar.
~
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
by
Charles Dickens
"I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one-half his days and mad the other."
~
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
by
Anne Bronte
It came like magic in a pint bottle; it was not ecstasy but it was comfort.
~
Little Dorrit
by
Charles Dickens
Mr. Melas, however, still lived, and in less than an hour, with the aid of ammonia and brandy I had the satisfaction of seeing him open his eyes, and of knowing that my hand had drawn him back from that dark valley in which all paths meet.
~
The Greek Interpreter
by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as cooks go she went.
~
Reginald
by
Saki
"You needn't tell me that a man who doesn't love oysters and asparagus and good wines has got a soul, or a stomach either. He's simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed."
~
The Chronicles of Clovis
by
Saki
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
~
The Portrait of a Lady
by
Henry James
"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast."
~
An Ideal Husband
by
Oscar Wilde
The dinner was as remarkable for the splendour and completeness of its appointments as the mansion itself, and the company were remarkable for doing it ample justice, in which respect Messrs Pyke and Pluck particularly signalised themselves; these two gentlemen eating of every dish, and drinking of every bottle, with a capacity and perseverance truly astonishing. They were remarkably fresh, too, notwithstanding their great exertions: for, on the appearance of the dessert, they broke out again, as if nothing serious had taken place since breakfast.
~
Nicholas Nickleby
by
Charles Dickens
"And now, Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums."
~
The Red-Headed League
by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle