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If a secret history of books could be written, and the author's private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader!

— William Makepeace Thackeray The History of Pendennis (1848)

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More quotes by William Makepeace Thackeray

There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen to write.

The History of Henry Esmond (1852)

Good humour may be said to be one of the very best articles of dress one can wear in society.

Sketches and Travels in London (1847)

I never know whether to pity or congratulate a man on coming to his senses.

The Virginians (1857)

How hard it is to make an Englishman acknowledge that he is happy!

The History of Pendennis (1848)

It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all. Some of us can't: and are proud of our impotence, too.

The History of Pendennis (1848)

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