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The attempt to better one's condition is always praiseworthy; but it is only base and ignoble to attempt to cover one's condition with an idle smack of something larger.

— Ik Marvel My Farm of Edgewood (1863)

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More quotes by Ik Marvel

I find no man so disagreeable to meet with, as one who knows everything.

My Farm of Edgewood (1863)

I have no faith in cats: they are a cold-blooded race; they are the politicians among domestic animals; they care little who is master, or what are the over-turnings, so their pickings are secure; and what are their midnight caucuses but primary meetings?

My Farm of Edgewood (1863)

Coquetry whets the appetite; flirtation depraves it. Coquetry is the thorn that guards the rose—easily trimmed off when once plucked. Flirtation is like the slime on water-plants, making them hard to handle, and when caught, only to be cherished in slimy waters.

Reveries of a Bachelor (1850)

It is certain that by a special dispensation of Providence in favor of those who make up the bulk of the human family, a man may secure a simple livelihood in agricultural pursuits, with less of energy, less of promptitude, less of calculation, and greater unthrift generally, than would be compatible with even this scanty aim, in any other calling of life.

My Farm of Edgewood (1863)

Hard, withering toil only can achieve a name; and long days, and months, and years, must be passed in the chase of that bubble—reputation; which once grasped, breaks in your eager clutch, into a hundred lesser bubbles, that soar above you still!

Reveries of a Bachelor (1850)

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