Journey To The Center Of The Earth Quotes
"I freely confess that I was exceedingly fond of geology and all its kindred sciences; the blood of a mineralogist was in my veins, and in the midst of my specimens I was always happy."
"To all these titles to honor, let me add that my uncle was the curator of the museum of mineralogy formed by Mr. Struve, the Russian ambassador; a most valuable collection, the fame of which is European."
"This work," replied my uncle, firing up with renewed enthusiasm, "this work is the Heims Kringla of Snorre Turlleson, the most famous Icelandic author of the twelfth century! It is the chronicle of the Norwegian princes who ruled in Iceland."
"His imagination is a volcano, and to do that which other geologists have never done he would risk his life."
"Descend, bold traveler, into the crater of the jokul of Sneffels, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the calends of July, and you will attain the center of the earth."
"Neither you nor anybody else knows with any certainty what is going on in the interior of this globe, since not the twelve thousandth part of its radius is known; science is eminently perfectible; and every new theory is soon routed by a newer."
"My good uncle, if you will enter into the legion of speculation, I can discuss the matter no longer."
"Because this liquid mass would be subject, like the ocean, to the lunar attraction, and therefore twice every day there would be internal tides, which, upheaving the terrestrial crust, would cause periodical earthquakes!"
"What, then, must other tracts be, more desert than this desert?"
"The great plutonic action is confined to the central portion of the island."
"He was about to make an observation to the guide, who without answering resumed his place at the head, and went on his way."
"In any case, I will tax my intelligence to direct theirs."
"Confounded brute!" cried the unhorsed horseman, suddenly degraded into a pedestrian."
"I perfectly understood the necessity of abiding a particular moment of the tide to undertake the crossing of the fjord."
"It was a peasant’s house, but in point of hospitality it was equal to a king’s."
"The kitchen chimney was constructed on the ancient pattern; in the middle of the room was a stone for a hearth, over it in the roof a hole to let the smoke escape."
"The ice king certainly held court here, and gave us all night long samples of what he could do."
"The desert became wider and more hideous; yet from time to time we seemed to descry a human figure that fled at our approach."
"The horrible disease of leprosy is too common in Iceland; it is not contagious, but hereditary, and lepers are forbidden to marry."
"My thoughts went away to the cheerful scenes I had left in the far south."
"I felt melancholy under this savage aspect of nature."
"Every moment I noticed a fair-haired and rather melancholy face peeping out of the rolling volumes of smoke—they were a perfect cluster of unwashed angels."
"As soon as the meal was over the children disappeared."
"This ceremony over, we sat at table, twenty-four in number, and therefore one upon another."
"The vast quantity of this unworked fuel would be sufficient to warm the whole population of Iceland for a century."
"This most curious island has evidently been projected from the bottom of the sea at a comparatively recent date."
"It seemed as if one of Helbesmer’s raised maps lay at my feet."
"I was just about to drop down, when a hand laid hold of me."
"The lava, which was porous in many places, had formed a surface covered with small rounded blisters."
"It seemed as if the genii of the depths were lighting up their palace to receive their terrestrial guests."
"Ah, you think so, do you, Axel, my boy? Well, you will see greater splendors than these, I hope."
"The order to 'halt' therefore gave me pleasure."
"Don’t be uneasy, Axel, we shall find more than we want."
"This is my conclusion. According to exact observations, the increase of temperature in the interior of the globe advances at the rate of one degree for every hundred feet."
"Our arrangements for the night were very simple; a railway rug each, into which we rolled ourselves, was our sole covering."
"Travelers who penetrate into the wilds of central Africa, and into the pathless forests of the New World, are obliged to watch over each other by night."
"No savages or wild beasts infested these silent depths."
"But what is the matter?" he asked. "Water!" replied the huntsman.
"The greater part of these bore impressions of primitive organisms."
"This cavern was about a hundred feet wide and a hundred and fifty in height."
"Ah, my boy! you agree with me now," cried the Professor, laughing.
"Confusion to all your calculations, and to all your hypotheses, too!"
"Come," I repeated, "since there is but one road, and they are on it, I must find them again."
"Lost at an immeasurable depth! Thirty leagues of rock seemed to weigh upon my shoulders with a dreadful pressure. I felt crushed."
"I tried to bring my thoughts back to things on the surface of the earth. I could scarcely succeed."
"What human power could restore me to the light of the sun by rending asunder the huge arches of rock that united over my head?"
"When I saw myself thus far removed from all earthly help I had recourse to heavenly succor."
"This return of trust in God’s providence allayed the turbulence of my fears, and I was enabled to concentrate upon my situation all the force of my intelligence."
"Unspeakable despair then seized upon me. I lay overwhelmed, aghast! My last hope was shattered against this granite wall."
"Every instant it seemed about to vanish and the dense blackness to come rolling in palpably upon me."
"I began to run wildly, hurrying through the inextricable maze, still descending, still running through the substance of the earth’s thick crust, a struggling denizen of geological 'faults,' crying, shouting, yelling."
"Never was solitude equal to this, never had any living being been so utterly forsaken."
"How long that state of insensibility had lasted I cannot say. I had no means now of taking account of time."
"I heard in reality a murmuring of voices. But my weakness prevented me from understanding what the voices said."
"I succeeded in catching uncertain, strange, undistinguishable words. They came as if pronounced in low murmured whispers."
"During this time I had been reflecting. A vague hope was returning to my heart."
"‘My dear nephew,’ said my uncle, pressing me to his breast, ‘you are saved.’"
"I can distinguish the eye of the ichthyosaurus glowing like a red-hot coal, and as large as a man’s head."
"Nature has endowed it with an optical apparatus of extreme power, and capable of resisting the pressure of the great volume of water in the depths it inhabits."
"The plesiosaurus, a serpent with a cylindrical body and a short tail, has four flappers or paddles to act like oars."
"They heaved around them liquid mountains, which rolled even to our raft and rocked it perilously."
"The struggle continues with unabated ferocity."
"The water is splashed for a long way around. The spray almost blinds us."
"The nearer we approach, the higher mounts the jet of water."
"The column of water thrown up to a height of five hundred feet falls in rain with a deafening uproar."
"The vast bank of heavy clouds is a huge reservoir of fearful windy gusts and rushing storms."
"The lightning flashes with intense brilliancy, and never seems to cease for a moment."
"My uncle has drawn nearer to me. He has uttered a few words. They seem to be: 'We are lost'; but I am not sure."
"A fresh noise is heard! Surely it is the sea breaking upon the rocks!"
"I have heard the tale of the kneepan of Ajax, the pretended body of Orestes claimed to have been found by the Spartans, and of the body of Asterius, ten cubits long, of which Pausanias speaks."
"Such was its diffusiveness, there being no central point from which the light emanated, that shadows no longer existed."
"It seemed like an immense cemetery, where the remains of twenty ages mingled their dust together."
"I stood petrified and speechless with amazement."
"It was no longer a fossil being... it was a giant, able to control those monsters."
"We stood running on for fear the horrible monster might be on our track."
"But that a man, a living man, and therefore without a doubt whole generations, too, should be buried there in the bowels of the earth, is impossible."
"It is not a mere skeleton; it is an entire body, preserved for a purely anthropological end and purpose."