The Mayor Of Casterbridge Quotes
"The chief--almost the only--attraction of the young woman's face was its mobility."
"The first phase was the work of Nature, the second probably of civilization."
"Virtually she walked the highway alone, save for the child she bore."
"She had the hard, half-apathetic expression of one who deems anything possible at the hands of Time and Chance except, perhaps, fair play."
"The grassy margin of the bank, and the nearest hedgerow boughs, were powdered by the dust that had been stirred over them by hasty vehicles."
"No other than such relationship would have accounted for the atmosphere of stale familiarity which the trio carried along with them like a nimbus as they moved down the road."
"The child's black eyes, after slow, round, ruminating gazes at the candles when they were lighted, fell together; then they opened, then shut again, and she slept."
"The conversation took a high turn, as it often does on such occasions."
"I married at eighteen, like the fool that I was; and this is the consequence o't."
"But a fellow never knows these little things till all chance of acting upon 'em is past."
"I don't know at all--I can't tell what to set about. I feel so down."
"My plans are fixed," said the young man in negative tones.
"When I was a young man I went in for that sort of thing too strong--far too strong--and was well-nigh ruined by it!"
"It made such an impression on me that I swore, there and then, that I'd drink nothing stronger than tea for as many years as I was old that day."
"I wish I could stay--sincerely I would like to," he replied. "But no--it cannet be! it cannet! I want to see the warrld."
"The freedom she experienced, the indulgence with which she was treated, went beyond her expectations."
"To keep in the rear of opportunity in matters of indulgence is as valuable a habit as to keep abreast of opportunity in matters of enterprise."
"She found she could have nice personal possessions and ornaments for the asking, and, as the mediaeval saying puts it, 'Take, have, and keep, are pleasant words.'"
"With peace of mind came development, and with development beauty."
"Knowledge--the result of great natural insight--she did not lack; learning, accomplishment--those, alas, she had not."
"Her triumph was tempered by circumspection, she had still that field-mouse fear of the coulter of destiny."
"The reposeful, easy, affluent life to which her mother's marriage had introduced her was, in truth, the beginning of a great change in Elizabeth."
"She protected those cheeks forthwith, deeming spotlessness part of womanliness."
"The corn grown on the upland side of the borough was garnered by farmers who lived in an eastern purlieu called Durnover."
"The old crude viva voce system of Henchard, in which everything depended upon his memory, was swept away."
"Letters and ledgers took the place of 'I'll do't,' and 'you shall hae't'; and, as in all such cases of advance, the rugged picturesqueness of the old method disappeared with its inconveniences."
"The house was large, the rooms lofty, and the landings wide; and the two unassuming women scarcely made a perceptible addition to its contents."
"He pressed on the preparations for his union, or rather reunion, with this pale creature in a dogged, unflinching spirit which did credit to his conscientiousness."
"She did not divine the ample explanation of his manner, without personal vanity, that was afforded by the fact of Donald being the depositary of Henchard's confidence."
"Her quiet eye discerned that Henchard's tigerish affection for the younger man, his constant liking to have Farfrae near him, now and then resulted in a tendency to domineer."
"But they knew nothing of the secret; though, as the time for coming out of church drew on, they gathered on the pavement adjoining, and expounded the subject according to their lights."
"Elizabeth-Jane's face being arranged to an expression of preternatural composure."
"It might have been supposed that, given a girl rapidly becoming good-looking, comfortably circumstanced, and for the first time in her life commanding ready money, she would go and make a fool of herself by dress."
"Her conjectures on that past never went further than faint ones based on things casually heard and seen--mere guesses that Henchard and her mother might have been lovers in their younger days, who had quarrelled and parted."
"Elizabeth-Jane received a note by hand, asking her to oblige the writer by coming at once to a granary on Durnover Hill."
"When she walked abroad she seemed to be occupied with an inner chamber of ideas, and to have slight need for visible objects."
"Nothing is more insidious than the evolution of wishes from mere fancies, and of wants from mere wishes."
"It is the first time in my life that I have been so much admired."
"There is something wrong in all this. If they only knew what an unfinished girl I am."
"Friendship between man and man; what a rugged strength there was in it."
"I don't want to hear it! To-morrow the waggons must start at four, and if you're not here, stand clear."
"I suppose because they like him so--that's what they say."
"Ah, as their father is dead I won't go on with such as that. How could I forget?"
"Do you care so very much about hurting folks' feelings?"
"I have been hearing things that vexed me. 'Twas that made me short in my manner."
"I wish it could have been in my time! But there--nothing is as you wish it!"
"I would do anything to be independent; for then perhaps my father might get to love me."
"I accidentally learned to write round hand instead of ladies'-hand. And, of course, you want some one who can write that?"
"As a maxim glibly repeated from childhood remains practically unmarked till some mature experience enforces it."
"The Hall, with its grey facade and parapet, was the only residence of its sort so near the centre of the town."
"The house was entirely of stone, and formed an example of dignity without great size."
"Elizabeth's eyes sought the upper rooms, and saw lights there. The lady had obviously arrived."
"The day and the hour came; but a drizzling rain fell."
"He showed no further tendency to be angry; he showed something worse."
"Father, have you any objection to my going away?"
"It is not by what is, in this life, but by what appears, that you are judged."
"I wouldn't have thought it--I wouldn't have thought it of women!"
"I will love him! as for HIM--he's hot-tempered and stern, and it would be madness to bind myself to him knowing that."
"The very heaviness of his soul caused him to sleep profoundly."
"Although everything he brought necessitated carriage at his own back, he had secreted among his tools a few of Elizabeth-Jane's cast-off belongings."
"The bright autumn sun shining into his eyes across the stubble awoke him the next morning early."
"He experienced not only the bitterness of a man who finds, in looking back upon an ambitious course, that what he has sacrificed in sentiment was worth as much as what he has gained in substance."
"Sneering at himself for his weakness he yet every hour--nay, every few minutes--conjectured her actions for the time being."
"He had no wish to make an arena a second time of a world that had become a mere painted scene to him."
"Here and everywhere be folk dying before their time like frosted leaves, though wanted by their families, the country, and the world."
"O Donald!...what bitterness lies there! O I would not have minded so much if it had not been for my unkindness at that last parting!"
"Her experience had been of a kind to teach her, rightly or wrongly, that the doubtful honour of a brief transmit through a sorry world hardly called for effusiveness."
"Her strong sense that neither she nor any human being deserved less than was given, did not blind her to the fact that there were others receiving less who had deserved much more."