“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
― Charles Dickens
“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”
― Charles Dickens
“Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart.”
― Charles Dickens
“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.”
― Charles Dickens
“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”
― Charles Dickens
“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.”
― Charles Dickens
“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
― Charles Dickens
“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before–more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.”
― Charles Dickens
“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.”
― Charles Dickens
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
― Charles Dickens
“And O there are days in this life, worth life and worth death.”
― Charles Dickens
“We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
― Charles Dickens
“What greater gift than the love of a cat.”
― Charles Dickens
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
― Charles Dickens
“You have been the last dream of my soul.”
― Charles Dickens
“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
― Charles Dickens
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
― Charles Dickens
“The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.”
― Charles Dickens
“Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces – and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper – love her, love her, love her!”
― Charles Dickens
“I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.”
― Charles Dickens
“To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.”
― charles dickens
“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.”
― Charles Dickens
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
― Charles Dickens
“Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since – on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to displace with your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. But, in this separation I associate you only with the good, and I will faithfully hold you to that always, for you must have done me far more good than harm, let me feel now what sharp distress I may. O God bless you, God forgive you!”
― Charles Dickens
“Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering.”
― Charles Dickens
“Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
― Charles Dickens
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.”
― Charles Dickens
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
― Charles Dickens
“I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.”
― Charles Dickens
“There was a long hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance of what I had thrown away when I was quite ignorant of its worth.”
― Charles Dickens
“And yet I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire.”
― Charles Dickens
“The broken heart. You think you will die, but you just keep living, day after day after terrible day.”
― Charles Dickens
“Ask no questions, and you’ll be told no lies.”
― Charles Dickens
“My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.”
― Charles Dickens
“I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.”
― Charles Dickens
“You are in every line I have ever read.”
― Charles Dickens
“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”
“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”
― Charles Dickens
“Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.”
― Charles Dickens
“There is a wisdom of the head, and… there is a wisdom of the heart.”
― Charles Dickens
“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. 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.”
― Charles Dickens
“No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot.”
― Charles Dickens
“The unqualified truth is, that when I loved Estella with the love of a man, I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I love her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection.”
― Charles Dickens
“A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.”
― Charles Dickens
“Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.”
― Charles Dickens
“It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.”
― Charles Dickens
“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.”
― Charles Dickens
“There is prodigious strength in sorrow and despair.”
― Charles Dickens
“So, throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.”
― Charles Dickens
“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”
― Charles Dickens
“Family not only need to consist of merely those whom we share blood, but also for those whom we’d give blood.”
― Charles Dickens