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Frederick Marryat Quotes

Vanity is a confounded donkey, very apt to put his head between his legs, and chuck us over; but pride is a fine horse, that will carry us over the ground, and enable us to distance our fellow-travelers.

Vanity is a confounded donkey, very apt to put his head between his legs, and chuck us over; but pride is a fine horse, that will carry us over the ground, and enable us to distance our fellow-travelers.

Frederick Marryat
Horse, Distance, Pride
Frederick Marryat (1897*). “Works of Captain Marryat: With Illustrations”

Every man paddles his own canoe.

Frederick Marryat
Men, Every Man
Settlers in Canada ch. 8 (1844)

There's no getting blood out of a turnip.

Frederick Marryat
Blood, Vegetables, Turnips
Frederick Marryat (1857). “Japhet, in Search of a Father ... A new edition”, p.13

In the vast archipelago of the east, where Borneo and Java and Sumatra lie, and the Molucca Islands, and the Philippines, the sea is often fanned only by the land and sea breezes, and is like a smooth bed, on which these islands seem to sleep in bliss,--islands in which the spice and perfume gardens of the world are embowered, and where the bird of paradise has its home, and the golden pheasant, and a hundred others of brilliant plumage, whose flight is among thickets so luxuriant, and scenery so picturesque, that European strangers find there the fairy land of their youthful dreams.

Frederick Marryat
Dream, Lying, Home

White lies are ushers to black ones.

Frederick Marryat
Lying, White, Black

All lies, white or black, disgrace a gentleman, although I grant there is a difference: to say the least of it, it is a dangerous habit, for white lies are but the gentleman ushers to black ones.

Frederick Marryat
Lying, White, Differences

I would rather write for the instruction, or even the amusement of the poor than for the amusement of the rich.

Frederick Marryat
Writing, Amusement, Rich
Frederick Marryat (1929). “Joseph Rushbrook; or, The poacher”

If I cannot narrate a life of adventurous and daring exploits, fortunately I have no heavy crimes to confess: and, if I do not rise in the estimation of the reader for acts of gallantry and devotion in my country's cause, at least I may claim the merit of zealous and persevering continuance in my vocation. We are all of us variously gifted from Above, and he who is content to walk, instead of to run, on his allotted path through life, although he may not so rapidly attain the goal, has the advantage of not being out of breath upon his arrival.

Frederick Marryat
Running, Country, Book
Frederick Marryat (1870). “Peter Simple”, p.1

Gentle reader, I was born upon the water - not upon the salt and angry ocean, but upon the fresh and rapid-flowing river.

Frederick Marryat
Ocean, Rivers, Water
Frederick Marryat (1873). “Jacob Faithful”, p.1

There is no composing draught like the draught through the tube of a pipe.

Frederick Marryat
Smoking, Draught, Pipe
Frederick Marryat (1873). “Jacob Faithful”, p.2

The English will agree with me that there are plenty of good things for the table in America; but the old proverb says: 'God sends meat and the devil sends cooks.'

Frederick Marryat
Food, America, Cooking
Frederick Marryat (1839). “A Diary in America: With Remarks on Its Institutions”

But what was most remarkable, Broadway being three miles long, and the booths lining each side of it, in every booth there was a roast pig, large or small, as the centre attraction. Six miles of roast pig! And that in New York City alone; and roast pig in every other city, town, hamlet, and village in the Union. What association can there be between roast pig and independence?

Frederick Marryat
New York, 4th Of July, Pigs
Frederick Marryat (1839). “A Diary in America”, p.38

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