Douglas William Jerrold Quotes - Page 3

A creature undefiled by the taint of the world, unvexed by its injustice, unwearied by its hollow pleasures; a being fresh from the source of light, with something of its universal lustre in it. If childhood be this, how holy the duty to see that in its onward growth it shall be no other!

He who owns the soil, owns up to the sky.

Troubles are like babies - they only grow by nursing.

The best thing I know between France and England is the sea.

That questionable superfluity small beer.

He is one of those wise philanthropists who, in a time of famine, would vote for nothing but a supply of toothpicks.

Some people are so fond of ill luck that they run halfway to meet it.

As for the brandy, "nothing extenuate"; and the water, put nought in in malice.

Don't buy a single vote more than necessary.

Nothing is so beneficial to a young author as the advice of a man whose judgment stands constitutionally at the freezing-point.

That man is thought a dangerous knave, Or zealot plotting crime, Who for advancement of his kind Is wiser than his time.

We are all slaves to the shining metal.

A piece of simple goodness--a letter gushing from the heart; a beautiful unstudied vindication of the worth and untiring sweetness of human nature--a record of the invulnerability of man, armed with high purpose, sanctified by truth.

There are some people as obtuse in recognizing an argument as they are in appreciating wit. You couldn't drive it into their heads with a hammer.

Some of 'em [virtues] like extinct volcanoes, with a strong memory or fire and brimstone.

Wits, like drunken men with swords, are apt to draw their steel upon their best acquaintances.

O this itch of the ear, that breaks out at the tongue! Were not curiosity so over-busy, detraction would soon be starved to death.

Fortunes made in no time are like shirts made in no time; it's ten to one if they hang long together.

Nature designed us to be of good cheer.

A man is in no danger so long as he talks his love; but to write it is to impale himself on his own pothooks.

Habitual intoxication is the epitome of every crime.

Duty, though set about by thorns, may still be made a staff supporting even while it tortures. Cast it away, and, like the prophet's wand, it changes to a snake.

A pill that the present moment is daily bread to thousands.

What women would do if they could not cry, nobody knows. What poor, defenceless creatures they would be!

Malice blunts the point of wit.