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Quotes from The Ancient Allan — H. Rider Haggard

1856–1925 England

← All quotes by H. Rider Haggard

16 quotes

I have never observed that the religious are more eager to die than the rest of us poor mortals.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

The tool carves the statue and the hand holds the tool but the spirit guides the band.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

Forgive me since I acted for the best, only until the end no one ever knows what is the best.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

Never stretch out your hand to Death till he stretches out his to you

The Ancient Allan (1920)

When one can think of nothing, it is best to follow the counsel of those who can think of something; also to hunt rather than to be hunted.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

It is well to be wise sometimes, for others’ sake, but not for our own, oh! not for our own.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

While you are a man, live the life of a man, and when you become a spirit, live the life of a spirit. But do not seek to mix the two together like oil and wine, and thus spoil both.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . who ever sees Wisdom until she is flying away?

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . the time of kings is not their own.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . feasts are sometimes followed by want and rejoicings by sorrow and victories by defeat, and splendid sins by repentance and slow climbing back to good again.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . too great holiness often thwarts itself and ends in trouble for the unholy flesh.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . do not lie except when you are obliged, for jugglers who play with too many knives are apt to cut their fingers.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

It seems that in this world we never can be content . . . we only think that we should be if things were otherwise than they are.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . even a king may choose his own wife sometimes.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . gifts have a way of coming to those who do not desire them

The Ancient Allan (1920)

. . . is [it] better to be alive or dead[?] The religious plump for the latter, though I have never observed that the religious are more eager to die than the rest of us poor mortals.

The Ancient Allan (1920)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: H. Rider Haggard (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.