46 quotes
We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the Universe.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
I attribute the quarrelsome nature of the Middle Ages young men entirely to the want of the soothing weed.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Women strangely hug the knife that stabs them.
Three Men in a Boat (1889)
It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.
But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand.
There are the goods; if you want them, you can have them. If you do not want them, they would almost rather that you did not come and talk about them.
Three Men on the Bummel (1900)
A shy man's lot is not a happy one. The men dislike him, the women despise him, and he dislikes and despises himself. Use brings him no relief, and there is no cure for him except time.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
We drink one another's health and spoil our own.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
For the man sound in body and serene in mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously.
All is vanity and everybody's vain. Women are terribly vain. So are men — more so, if possible.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
I want a house that has got over all its troubles; I don't want to spend the rest of my life bringing up a young and inexperienced house.
They and I (1909)
Sunlight is the life-blood of Nature.
Three Men in a Boat (1889)
It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to us our emotions, our passions.
Three Men in a Boat (1889)
Tears are as sweet as laughter to some natures.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
If you would taste love, drink of the pure stream that youth pours out at your feet. Do not wait till it has become a muddy river before you stoop to catch its waves.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
It is in our faults and failings, not in our virtues, that we touch each other, and find sympathy. It is in our follies that we are one.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
A man rarely carries his shyness past the hobbledehoy period. Even if his own inward strength does not throw it off, the rubbings of the world generally smooth it down.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Swearing relieves the feelings—that is what swearing does. I explained this to my aunt on one occasion, but it didn't answer with her. She said I had no business to have such feelings.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Too much of anything is a mistake, as the man said when his wife presented him with four new healthy children in one day. We should practice moderation in all matters.
It always does seem to me that I am doing more work than I should do. It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart.
Three Men in a Boat (1889)