Great Throughts Treasury

"We must walk before we run."

"Two great talkers will not travel far together."

"Translation is at best an echo."

"He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is, good ale."

"I have always been a friend to hero-worship; it is the only rational one, and has always been in use amongst civilized people."

"If you must commit suicide and there is no knowing to what people may be brought always contrive to do it as decorously as possible; the decencies, whether of life or of death, should never be lost sight of."

"Sherry... a silly, sickly compound, the use of which will transform a nation, however bold and warlike by nature, into a race of sketchers, scribblers, and punsters, in fact into what Englishmen are at the present day."

"Smoking has a sedative effect upon the nerves, and enables a man to bear the sorrows of this life (of which everyone has his share) not only decently, but dignifiedly."

"The author of Amelia, the most singular genius which their island ever produced, whose works it has long been the fashion to abuse in public and to read in secret."

"There are no countries in the world less known by the British than these selfsame British Islands, or where more strange things are every day occurring."

"Youth will be served, every dog has his day, and mine has been a fine one."

"The dog that trots about finds a bone."

"There's night and day, brother, both sweet things; sun, moon, and stars, brother, all sweet things; there's likewise a wind on the heath. Life is very sweet, brother; who would wish to die?"

"There's the wind on the heath, brother; if I could only feel that, I would gladly live for ever."

"There is a peculiarity in the countenance, as everybody knows, which, though it cannot be described, is sure to betray the Englishman."