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The great British Library — an immense collection of volumes of all ages and languages, many of which are now forgotten, and most of which are seldom read: one of these sequestered pools of obsolete literature to which modern authors repair, and draw buckets full of classic lore, or “pure English, undefiled” wherewith to swell their own scanty rills of thought.

— Washington Irving The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819)

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More quotes by Washington Irving

There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity, that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. It is only spurious pride that is morbid and sensitive, and shrinks from every touch.

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819)

A woman is more considerate in affairs of love than man; because love is more the study and business of her life.

Bracebridge Hall (1822)

There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.

Good temper, like a sunny day, sheds a brightness over everything; it is the sweetener of toil and the soother of disquietude.

Gems for the Fireside (1882)

I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Washington Irving (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.