As the vibrant city lights glow in the bustling London streets, you can almost hear the echoes of Charles Dickens, reverberating through time. Author of famed novels such as “Great Expectations” and “A Tale of Two Cities“, Dickens was not only an extraordinary novelist but also a fountain of wisdom, captured in his countless quotes that still resonate today. Welcome, dear reader, to the world of “50 Historical Charles Dickens Quotes” – a journey through time, painted in words by one of history's greatest literary figures.
Imagine walking through the foggy streets of 19th century England, your path illuminated only by the dull light of a gas lamp, each step bringing you closer to understanding the depth and significance of Dickens' words. Behind each of these “Charles Dickens Quotes” lies a world of knowledge, a rich tapestry of insights about life, love, and humanity that Dickens wove into his works. Each quote is a pearl of wisdom, reflecting the genius of a man who, despite his humble beginnings, managed to change the world through his timeless tales. So, buckle up! You're about to embark on a historical journey, one quote at a time.
Insights into the Human Condition
1. “Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” – Hard Times
2. “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Our Mutual Friend
3. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” – A Tale of Two Cities
4. “We need never be ashamed of our tears.” – Great Expectations
5. “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” – A Christmas Carol
6. “Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.” – The Pickwick Papers
7. “Family not only needs to consist of merely those whom we share blood, but also for those whom we’d give blood.” – Nicholas Nickleby
8. “Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” – A Christmas Carol
9. “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” – Great Expectations
10. “There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.” – The Pickwick Papers
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Life and Wisdom
- “Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast.” – Martin Chuzzlewit
- “Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.” – Martin Chuzzlewit
- “The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” – The Old Curiosity Shop
- “Vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess!” – Dombey and Son
- “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” – Nicholas Nickleby
- “Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” – David Copperfield
- “We forge the chains we wear in life.” – A Christmas Carol
- “Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.” – Great Expectations
- “Accidents will occur in the best regulated families.” – David Copperfield
- “A dream, all a dream, that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down, but I wish you to know that you inspired it.” – A Tale of Two Cities
Love and Affection
- “A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” – David Copperfield
- “Love, though said to be afflicted with blindness, is a vigilant watchman.” – Our Mutual Friend
- “Love is in all things a most wonderful teacher.” – David Copperfield
- “There is a wisdom of the heart, and there is a wisdom of the head.” – Hard Times
- “Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.” – Great Expectations
- “Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart.” – The Old Curiosity Shop
- “In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as Ihad been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.” – Great Expectations
- “And can it be that in a world so full and busy the loss of one creature makes a void so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up!” – Nicholas Nickleby
- “It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.” – Oliver Twist
- “The broken heart. You think you will die, but you just keep living, day after day after terrible day.” – Great Expectations
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Socioeconomic Observations
- “I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance, any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.” – Hunters and Amusements
- “Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature.” – Nicholas Nickleby
- “There is something about the hustle and bustle of a market that always filled me with a sensation of great cheerfulness and well-being.” – Barnaby Rudge
- “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.” – David Copperfield
- “Do you spell it with a ‘V' or a ‘W'?' inquired the judge. ‘That depends upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my Lord'.” – The Pickwick Papers
- “Poverty and oysters always seem to go together.” – The Pickwick Papers
- “The law is a ass—a idiot.” – Oliver Twist
- “No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused.” – A Christmas Carol
- “There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.” – Oliver Twist
- “If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.” – The Old Curiosity Shop
The Nature of Time and Memory
- “Time, which sees all things, has found you out.” – Bleak House
- “To a young heart, everything is fun.” – The Pickwick Papers
- “The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish' and start saying ‘I will.' Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.” – David Copperfield
- “Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.” – The Corroborative Detail
- “A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self.” – A Tale of Two Cities
- “Time is the best teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all of its students.” – Barnaby Rudge
- “I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.” – A Tale of Two Cities
- “Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.” – A Christmas Carol
- “I lived in a world of inscrutable hostilities and vaguely formulated perils.” – Great Expectations
- “Life is made of ever so many partings welded together.” – Great Expectations
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