155 quotes
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
Circumstances beyond my individual control.
Called me wessel, Sammy—a wessel of wrath.
Pickwick Papers (1836)
That vague kind of penitence which holidays awaken next morning.
The Old Curiosity Shop (1841)
Under an accumulation of staggerers, no man can be considered a free agent. No man knocks himself down; if his destiny knocks him down, his destiny must pick him up again.
The Old Curiosity Shop (1841)
"There are strings," said Mr. Tappertit, "…in the human heart that had better not be wibrated."
Anythin' for a quiet life, as the man said wen he took the sitivation at the lighthouse.
The mine which Time has slowly dug beneath familiar objects is sprung in an instant; and what was rock before, becomes but sand and dust.
Martin Chuzzlewitt (1844)
You will not have forgotten that it was a maxim with Foxey — our revered father, gentlemen — "Always suspect everybody." That's the maxim to go through life with!
The Old Curiosity Shop (1841)
Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil.
Great Expectations (1860)
Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast.
Love is not a feeling to pass away,
Like the balmy breath of a summer day;
It is not — it cannot be — laid aside;
It is not a thing to forget or hide.
Lucy's Song in The Village Coquettes (1836)
Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving — HOW NOT TO DO IT.
Little Dorrit (1855)
If you could see my legs when I take my boots off, you'd form some idea of what unrequited affection is.
Dombey and Son (1846)
I made a compact with myself that in my person literature should stand by itself, of itself, and for itself.
speech at Liverpool Banquet (1869)
"When a man says he's willin'," said Mr. Barkis, "it's as much as to say, that man's a-waitin' for a answer."
I am well aware that I am the 'umblest person going * * * let the other be where he may.
I don’t profess to be profound, but I do lay claim to common sense.
'Umble we are, 'umble we have been, 'umble we shall ever be.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.