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William McFee Quotes

1881–1966 England

William McFee (15 June 1881 – 2 July 1966) was a British writer.

England
Memoirists
Novelists
Short story writers

Also known as: McFee, William

Random William McFee quote

15 quotes

People don't ever seem to realise that doing what's right's no guarantee against misfortune.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

Responsibility's like a string we can only see the middle of. Both ends are out of sight.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

It is so much easier to tell intimate things in the dark.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

If fate means you to lose, give him a good fight anyhow.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

It is extraordinary how many emotional storms one may weather in safety if one is ballasted with ever so little gold.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

Terrible and sublime thought, that every moment is supreme for some man and woman, every hour the apotheosis of some passion!

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

A young man must let his ideas grow, not be continually rooting them up to see how they are getting on.

Harbours of Memory (1921)

There is nothing like an odor to stir memories.

A trouble is a trouble, and the general idea, in the country, is to treat it as such, rather than to snatch the knotted cords from the hand of God and deal out murderous blows.

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

One must choose between Obscurity with Efficiency, and Fame with its inevitable collateral of Bluff. There is a period, well on toward middle life, when a man can say such things to himself and feel comforted.

Harbours of Memory (1921)

There are some men whom a staggering emotional shock, so far from making them mental invalids for life, seems, on the other hand, to awaken, to galvanize, to arouse into an almost incredible activity of soul.

Roses just now predominate. There is a satisfying solidity about the bunches, a glorious abundance which, in a commodity so easily enjoyed without ownership, is scarcely credible.

London is always beautiful to those who love and understand that extraordinary microcosm; but at five of a summer morning there is about her an exquisite quality of youthful fragrance and debonair freshness which goes to the heart.

To those poor Casuals of the way-worn earth,
The feckless wastage of our cunning schemes,
This book is dedicate, their hidden worth
And beauty I have seen in vagrant dreams!

Casuals of the Sea (1916)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William McFee (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.