Essays on Social Subjects from the Saturday Review |
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Common terms and phrases
acquaintances action Adam Bede affections amused attention better called cause cern character Charles Lamb choice choose Church of Ireland circumstances conscious constancy contempt course disagreeable things doubt dull dulness duty experience expression eyes fact false shame fancy feeling folly fool foolish things freemasonry friends friendship give Gothic architecture habit heart hugger-mugger human ically idea ignorance implies impulse indulge influence instinct intellect intercourse interest judgment labor live look matter means memory ment mind mistakes moral motives nature ness never notion observation ourselves pain passionate emotion pathy perhaps persons pleasure prejudices propen qualities reason reserve scenes sense sensitiveness shirk Sir Walter Scott snub snubber social society solecism sort spirit stancy stand Sydney Smith sympathy talk taste tell temper thought tion truth turn uncon vanity virtue weak wise words young
Popular passages
Page 152 - See the same man, in vigour, in the gout ; Alone, in company ; in place, or out ; Early at business, and at hazard late ; Mad at a fox-chase, wise at a debate ; Drunk at a borough, civil at a ball ; Friendly at Hackney, faithless at Whitehall.
Page 10 - The man, whose eye Is ever on himself, doth look on one, The least of nature's works, one who might move The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds Unlawful, ever.
Page 77 - The learn'd is happy nature to explore, The fool is happy that he knows no more ; The rich is happy in the plenty given, The poor contents him with the care of Heaven.
Page 349 - When I was running about this town a very poor fellow, I was a great arguer for the advantages of poverty ; but I was, at the same time, very sorry to be poor.
Page 178 - When thou dost purpose aught (within thy power), Be sure to do it, though it be but small : Constancy knits the bones, and makes us stour When wanton pleasures beckon us to thrall.
Page 100 - How often sit I, poring o'er My strange distorted youth, Seeking in vain, in all my store, One feeling based on truth; Amid the maze of petty life A clue whereby to move, A spot whereon in toil and strife To dare to rest and love. So constant as my heart would be, So fickle as it must, 'Twere well for others as for me 'Twere dry as summer dust.
Page 77 - If Thou be one whose heart the holy forms Of young imagination have kept pure, Stranger ! henceforth be warned ; and know that pride; Howe'er disguised in its own majesty, Is littleness; that he, who feels contempt For any living thing, hath faculties Which he has never used; that thought with him Is in its infancy.
Page 301 - Methodist preachers; their doctrines are most repulsive, and strongly tinctured with impertinence and disrespect towards their superiors, in perpetually endeavouring to level all ranks, and do away with all distinctions. It is monstrous to be told, that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting; and I cannot but wonder that your Ladyship should relish any sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding.
Page 127 - As soon as the house was full, and the candles lighted, my old friend stood up, and looked about him with that pleasure which a mind seasoned with humanity naturally feels in itself, at the sight of a multitude of people who seem pleased with one another, and partake of the same common entertainment.
Page 310 - If we try to analyze the sense of discomfort, it often admits of no distinct definition ; and we are not willing to own ourselves disturbed by so insignificant a cause. The temper suffers ; our magnanimity fails us from the very poverty of the grievance. The pathetic, whether seen in actual life or in fiction, is an excellent remedy for this dry, barren dejection. A more generous sentiment suppresses or washes away the rubbish of petty, selfish annoyance. The very thought of the passage of time acts...