Quotes and Images From The Works of George Meredith

A lover must have his delusions, just as a man must have a skin A madman gets madder when you talk reason to him A night that had shivered repose A dash of conventionalism makes the whole civilized world kin A string of pearls: a woman who goes beyond that's in danger A wound of the same kind that we are inflicting A tear would have overcome him—She had not wept A tragic comedian: that is, a grand pretender, a self-deceiver A fleet of South-westerly rain-clouds had been met in mid-sky A bone in a boy's mind for him to gnaw and worry A kind of anchorage in case of indiscretion A cloud of millinery shoots me off a mile from a woman A woman's at the core of every plot man plotteth A witty woman is a treasure; a witty Beauty is a power A high wind will make a dead leaf fly like a bird A kindly sense of superiority A young philosopher's an old fool! A bird that won't roast or boil or stew A woman, and would therefore listen to nonsense A male devotee is within an inch of a miracle A great oration may be a sedative A very doubtful benefit A generous enemy is a friend on the wrong side A woman is hurt if you do not confide to her your plans A woman who has mastered sauces sits on the apex of civilization A style of affable omnipotence about the wise youth A maker of Proverbs—what is he but a narrow mind wit A fortress face; strong and massive, and honourable in ruin A dumb tongue can be a heavy liar A common age once, when he married her; now she had grown old A share of pity for the objects she despised A woman rises to her husband. But a man is what he is A stew's a stew, and not a boiling to shreds A marriage without love is dishonour A plunge into the deep is of little moment A sixpence kindly meant is worth any crown-piece that's grudged A man to be trusted with the keys of anything A free-thinker startles him as a kind of demon A female free-thinker is one of Satan's concubines A wise man will not squander his laughter if he can help it A man who rejected medicine in extremity A lady's company-smile A country of compromise goes to pieces at the first cannon-shot A youth who is engaged in the occupation of eating his heart A whisper of cajolery in season is often the secret A superior position was offered her by her being silent A contented Irishman scarcely seems my countryman Abject sense of the lack of a circumference Above all things I detest the writing for money Above Nature, I tell him, or, we shall be very much below Absolute freedom could be the worst of perils Accidents are the specific for averting the maladies of age Accounting his tight blue tail coat and brass buttons a victory Accounting for it, is not the same as excusing Accustomed to be paid for by his country Acting is not of the high class which conceals the art Active despair is a passion that must be superseded Add on a tired pipe after dark, and a sound sleep to follow Adept in the lie implied Admirable scruples of an inveterate borrower Admiration of an enemy or oppressor doing great deeds Admires a girl when there's no married woman or widow in sight Adversary at once offensive and helpless provokes brutality Advised not to push at a shut gate Affected misapprehensions Affectedly gentle and unusually roundabout opening After forty, men have married their habits After five years of marriage, and twelve of friendship After a big blow, a very little one scarcely counts Agostino was enjoying the smoke of paper cigarettes Ah! how sweet to waltz through life with the right partner Ah! we're in the enemy's country now Ah! we fall into their fictions Aimlessness of a woman's curiosity Alike believe that Providence is for them All of us an ermined owl within us to sit in judgement All concessions to the people have been won from fear All passed too swift for happiness All women are the same—Know one, know all All that Matey and Browny were forbidden to write they looked All are friends who sit at table All flattery is at somebody's expense Allowed silly sensitiveness to prevent the repair Although it blew hard when Caesar crossed the Rubicon Always the shout for more produced it ( News ) Am I ill? I must be hungry! Am I thy master, or thou mine? Americans forgivingly remember, without mentioning Amiable mirror as being wilfully ruffled to confuse Among boys there are laws of honour and chivalrous codes Amused after their tiresome work of slaughter An edge to his smile that cuts much like a sneer An obedient creature enough where he must be An angry woman will think the worst An incomprehensible world indeed at the bottom and at the top An instinct labouring to supply the deficiencies of stupidity An old spoiler of women is worse than one spoiled by them! And now came war, the purifier and the pestilence And so Farewell my young Ambition! and with it farewell all true And he passed along the road, adds the Philosopher And, ladies, if you will consent to be likened to a fruit And her voice, against herself, was for England And one gets the worst of it (in any bargain) And it's one family where the dog is pulled by the collar And not any of your grand ladies can match my wife at home And to these instructions he gave an aim: First be virtuous And not be beaten by an acknowledged defeat And never did a stroke of work in my life And life said, Do it, and death said, To what end? Anecdotist to slaughter families for the amusement Anguish to think of having bent the knee for nothing Anticipate opposition by initiating measures Any man is in love with any woman Any excess pushes to craziness Appealed to reason in them; he would not hear of convictions Appetite to flourish at the cost of the weaker Arch-devourer Time Are we practical?' penetrates the bosom of an English audience Aristocratic assumption of licence Arm'd with Fear the Foe finds passage to the vital part Arrest the enemy by vociferations of persistent prayer Art of despising what he coveted Art of speaking on politics tersely As when nations are secretly preparing for war As to wit, the sneer is the cloak of clumsiness As secretive as they are sensitive As the Lord decided, so it would end! Oh, delicious creed! As well ask (women) how a battle-field concerns them! As faith comes—no saying how; one swears by them As if she had never heard him previously enunciate the formula As little trouble as the heath when the woods are swept As if the age were the injury! As for titles, the way to defend them is to be worthy of them As fair play as a woman's lord could give her As for comparisons, they are flowers thrown into the fire As in all great oratory! The key of it is the pathos As becomes them, they do not look ahead Ashamed of letting his ears be filled with secret talk Ask not why, where reason never was Ask pardon of you, without excusing myself Assist in our small sphere; not come mouthing to the footlights At the age of forty, men that love love rootedly At war with ourselves, means the best happiness we can have Attacked my conscience on the cowardly side Automatic creature is subject to the laws of its construction Avoid the position that enforces publishing Back from the altar to discover that she has chained herself Bad laws are best broken Bad luck's not repeated every day Keep heart for the good Bade his audience to beware of princes Bandied the weariful shuttlecock of gallantry Barriers are for those who cannot fly Be philosophical, but accept your personal dues Be politic and give her elbow-room for her natural angles Be what you seem, my little one Be on your guard the next two minutes he gets you alone Be good and dull, and please everybody Be the woman and have the last word! Bear in mind that we are sentimentalists—The eye is our servant Beauchamp's career Beautiful servicelessness Beautiful women in her position provoke an intemperateness Beautiful women may believe themselves beloved Beauty is rare; luckily is it rare Because you loved something better than me Because he stood so high with her now he feared the fall Because men can't abide praise of another man Becoming air of appropriation that made it family history Bed was a rock of refuge and fortified defence Began the game of Pull Beginning to have a movement to kiss the whip Behold the hero embarked in the redemption of an erring beauty Being heard at night, in the nineteenth century Being in heart and mind the brother to the sister with women Belief in the narrative by promoting nausea in the audience Believed in her love, and judged it by the strength of his own Bent double to gather things we have tossed away Better for men of extremely opposite opinions not to meet Between love grown old and indifference ageing to love Beware the silent one of an assembly! Beyond a plot of flowers, a gold-green meadow dipped to a ridge Bitten hard at experience, and know the value of a tooth Borrower to be dancing on Fortune's tight-rope above the old abyss Botched mendings will only make them worse Bound to assure everybody at table he was perfectly happy Bounds of his intelligence closed their four walls Boys, of course—but men, too! Boys are unjust Boys who can appreciate brave deeds are capable of doing them Braggadocioing in deeds is only next bad to mouthing it Brains will beat Grim Death if we have enough of them Brief negatives are not re-assuring to a lover's uneasy mind British hunger for news; second only to that for beef Brittle is foredoomed Brotherhood among the select who wear masks instead of faces But I leave it to you But a woman must now and then ingratiate herself But great, powerful London—the new universe to her spirit But to strangle craving is indeed to go through a death But the flower is a thing of the season; the flower drops off But you must be beautiful to please some men But they were a hopeless couple, they were so friendly But the key to young men is the ambition, or, in the place of it..... But love for a parent is not merely duty But a great success is full of temptations But what is it we do (excepting cricket, of course) But is there such a thing as happiness But had sunk to climb on a firmer footing By our manner of loving we are known By forbearance, put it in the wrong By resisting, I made him a tyrant By nature incapable of asking pardon Cajoled like a twenty-year-old yahoo at college Call of the great world's appetite for more (Invented news) Calm fanaticism of the passion of love Can you not be told you are perfect without seeking to improve Can believe a woman to be any age when her cheeks are tinted Can a man go farther than his nature? Cannot be any goodness unless it is a practiced goodness Canvassing means intimidation or corruption Capacity for thinking should precede the act of writing Capricious potentate whom they worship Careful not to smell of his office Carry explosives and must particularly guard against sparks Carry a scene through in virtue's name and vice's mask Causes him to be popularly weighed Centres of polished barbarism known as aristocratic societies Challenged him to lead up to her desired stormy scene Charges of cynicism are common against all satirists Charitable mercifulness; better than sentimental ointment Charity that supplied the place of justice was not thanked Chaste are wattled in formalism and throned in sourness Cheerful martyr Childish faith in the beneficence of the unseen Powers who feed us Chose to conceive that he thought abstractedly Circumstances may combine to make a whisper as deadly as a blow Civil tongue and rosy smiles sweeten even sour wine Claim for equality puts an end to the priceless privileges Clotilde fenced, which is half a confession Cock-sure has crowed low by sunset Cold curiosity Cold charity to all Come prepared to be not very well satisfied with anything Comfortable have to pay in occasional panics for the serenity Command of countenance the Countess possessed Commencement of a speech proves that you have made the plunge Common voice of praise in the mouths of his creditors Common sense is the secret of every successful civil agitation Compared the governing of the Irish to the management of a horse Comparisons will thrust themselves on minds disordered Compassionate sentiments veered round to irate amazement Complacent languor of the wise youth Compliment of being outwitted by their own offspring Compromise is virtual death Conduct is never a straight index where the heart's involved Confess no more than is necessary, but do everything you can Confident serenity inspired by evil prognostications Consciousness of some guilt when vowing itself innocent Consent to take life as it is Consent of circumstances Conservative, whose astounded state paralyzes his wrath Consign discussion to silence with the cynical closure Constitutionally discontented Consult the family means—waste your time Contempt of military weapons and ridicule of the art of war Contemptuous exclusiveness could not go farther Continued trust in the man—is the alternative of despair Convict it by instinct without the ceremony of a jury Convictions we store—wherewith to shape our destinies Convictions are generally first impressions Convincing themselves that they impersonate sagacity Cordiality of an extreme relief in leaving Could we—we might be friends Could peruse platitudes upon that theme with enthusiasm Could not understand enthusiasm for the schoolmaster's career Could the best of men be simply—a woman's friend? Could have designed this gabbler for the mate Could affect me then, without being flung at me Country can go on very well without so much speech-making Country enclosed us to make us feel snug in our own importance Country prizing ornaments higher than qualities Courage to grapple with his pride and open his heart was wanting Cover of action as an escape from perplexity Cowardice is even worse for nations than for individual men Crazy zigzag of policy in almost every stroke (of history) Creatures that wait for circumstances to bring the change Critical fashion of intimates who know as well as hear Critical in their first glance at a prima donna Cupid clipped of wing is a destructive parasite Curious thing would be if curious things should fail to happen Dahlia, the perplexity to her sister's heart, lay stretched.... Damsel who has lost the third volume of an exciting novel Dangerous things are uttered after the third glass Dark-eyed Renee was not beauty but attraction Days when you lay on your back and the sky rained apples Dead Britons are all Britons, but live Britons are not quite brothers Death is always next door Death within which welcomed a death without Death is only the other side of the ditch Death is our common cloak; but Calamity individualizes Debit was eloquent, he was unanswerable Decency's a dirty petticoat in the Garden of Innocence Decent insincerity Decline to practise hypocrisy Dedicated to the putrid of the upper circle Deeds only are the title Deep as a mother's, pure as a virgin's, fiery as a saint's Defiance of foes and (what was harder to brave) of friends Delay in thine undertaking Is disaster of thy own making Depending for dialogue upon perpetual fresh supplies of scandal Depreciating it after the fashion of chartered hypocrites. Desire of it destroyed it Despises hostile elements and goes unpunished Despises the pomades and curling-irons of modern romance Determine that the future is in our debt, and draw on it Detestable feminine storms enveloping men weak enough Detested titles, invented by the English Developing stiff, solid, unobtrusive men, and very personable women Dialectical stiffness Dialogue between Nature and Circumstance Did not know the nature of an oath, and was dismissed Didn't say a word No use in talking about feelings Dignitary, and he passed under the bondage of that position Dignity of sulking so seductive to the wounded spirit of man Discover the writers in a day when all are writing! Discreet play with her eyelids in our encounters Disqualification of constantly offending prejudices Dissent rings out finely, and approval is a feeble murmur Distaste for all exercise once pleasurable Distinguished by his not allowing himself to be provoked Distrust us, and it is a declaration of war Dithyrambic inebriety of narration Divided lovers in presence Do I serve my hand? or, Do I serve my heart? Do you judge of heroes as of lesser men? Dogmatic arrogance of a just but ignorant man Dogs die more decently than we men Dogs' eyes have such a sick look of love Dose he had taken was not of the sweetest Drank to show his disdain of its powers Dreaded as a scourge, hailed as a refreshment (Scandal-sheet) Dreads our climate and coffee too much to attempt the voyage Drink is their death's river, rolling them on helpless Dudley was not gifted to read behind words and looks Earl of Cressett fell from his coach-box in a fit Eating, like scratching, only wants a beginning Eccentric behaviour in trifles Effort to be reticent concerning Nevil, and communicative Efforts to weary him out of his project were unsuccessful Elderly martyr for the advancement of his juniors Embarrassments of an uncongenial employment Emilia alone of the party was as a blot to her Eminently servile is the tolerated lawbreaker Empanelled to deliver verdicts upon the ways of women Empty stomachs are foul counsellors Empty magnanimity which his uncle presented to him Enamoured young men have these notions Enemy's laugh is a bugle blown in the night Energy to something, that was not to be had in a market England's the foremost country of the globe English antipathy to babblers English maids are domesticated savage animals Enjoys his luxuries and is ashamed of his laziness Enthusiasm struck and tightened the loose chord of scepticism Enthusiasm has the privilege of not knowing monotony Enthusiast, when not lyrical, is perilously near to boring Envy of the man of positive knowledge Equally acceptable salted when it cannot be had fresh Everlastingly in this life the better pays for the worse Every failure is a step advanced Every woman that's married isn't in love with her husband Every church of the city lent its iron tongue to the peal Everywhere the badge of subjection is a poor stomach Exceeding variety and quantity of things money can buy Excellent is pride; but oh! be sure of its foundations Excess of a merit is a capital offence in morality Excited, glad of catastrophe if it but killed monotony Expectations dupe us, not trust Explaining of things to a dull head Externally soft and polished, internally hard and relentless Exuberant anticipatory trustfulness Exult in imagination of an escape up to the moment of capture Eyes of a lover are not his own; but his hands and lips are Face betokening the perpetual smack of lemon Failures oft are but advising friends Faith works miracles. At least it allows time for them Fantastical Far higher quality is the will that can subdue itself to wait Fast growing to be an eccentric by profession Fatal habit of superiority stopped his tongue Father and she were aware of one another without conversing Father used to say, four hours for a man, six for a woman Favour can't help coming by rotation Fear nought so much as Fear itself Feel no shame that I do not feel! Feel they are not up to the people they are mixing with Feeling, nothing beyond a lively interest in her well-being Feigned utter condemnation to make partial comfort acceptable Fell to chatting upon the nothings agreeably and seriously Feminine pity, which is nearer to contempt than to tenderness Feminine; coming when she willed and flying when wanted Festive board provided for them by the valour of their fathers Few feelings are single on this globe Few men can forbear to tell a spicy story of their friends Fiddle harmonics on the sensual strings Fine eye for celestially directed consequences is ever haunted Fine Shades were still too dominant at Brookfield Finishing touches to the negligence Fire smoothes the creases Fires in the grates went through the ceremony of warming nobody Fit of Republicanism in the nursery Flashes bits of speech that catch men in their unguarded corner Flung him, pitied him, and passed on Foamy top is offered and gulped as equivalent to an idea Foe can spoil my face; he beats me if he spoils my temper Foist on you their idea of your idea at the moment Fond, as they say, of his glass and his girl Foolish trick of thinking for herself For 'tis Ireland gives England her soldiers, her generals too Forewarn readers of this history that there is no plot in it Forgetfulness is like a closing sea Fortitude leaned so much upon the irony Forty seconds too fast, as if it were a capital offence Found by the side of the bed, inanimate, and pale as a sister of death Found it difficult to forgive her his own folly Found that he 'cursed better upon water' Fourth of the Georges Frankness as an armour over wariness Fretted by his relatives he cannot be much of a giant Friend he would not shake off, but could not well link with Friendship, I fancy, means one heart between two From head to foot nothing better than a moan made visible Frozen vanity called pride, which does not seek to be revenged Full-o'-Beer's a hasty chap Fun, at any cost, is the one object worth a shot Further she read, Which is the coward among us? Generally he noticed nothing Gentlefolks like straight-forwardness in their inferiors Gentleman who does so much 'cause he says so little Gentleman in a good state of preservation Get back what we give Giant Vanity urged Giant Energy to make use of Giant Duplicity Give our courage as hostage for the fulfilment of what we hope Give our consciences to the keeping of the parsons Given up his brains for a lodging to a single idea Glimpse of her whole life in the horrid tomb of his embrace Gone to pieces with an injured lover's babble Good and evil work together in this world Good nature, and means no more harm than he can help Good nerve to face the scene which he is certain will be enacted Good-bye to sorrow for a while—Keep your tears for the living Good maxim for the wrathful—speak not at all Good jokes are not always good policy Goodish sort of fellow; good horseman, good shot, good character Gossip always has some solid foundation, however small Government of brain; not sufficient Insurrection of heart Gradations appear to be unknown to you Graduated naturally enough the finer stages of self-deception Grand air of pitying sadness Gratitude never was a woman's gift Gratuitous insult Gravely reproaching the tobacconist for the growing costliness of cigars Greater our successes, the greater the slaves we become Greatest of men; who have to learn from the loss of the woman Grief of an ill-fortuned passion of his youth Grimaces at a government long-nosed to no purpose Grossly unlike in likeness (portraits) Habit had legalized his union with her Habit of antedating his sagacity Habit, what a sacred and admirable thing it is Had got the trick of lying, through fear of telling the truth Had come to be her lover through being her husband Had Shakespeare's grandmother three Christian names? Had taken refuge in their opera-glasses Half-truth that we may put on the mask of the whole Half a dozen dozen left Half designingly permitted her trouble to be seen Happiness in love is a match between ecstasy and compliance Happy the woman who has not more to speak Happy in privation and suffering if simply we can accept beauty Hard to bear, at times unbearable Hard enough for a man to be married to a fool Hard men have sometimes a warm affection for dogs Haremed opinion of the unfitness of women Hated one thing alone—which was 'bother' Hated tears, considering them a clog to all useful machinery Hates a compromise Haunted many pillows Have her profile very frequently while I am conversing with her Having contracted the fatal habit of irony He was not alive for his own pleasure He, by insisting, made me a rebel He bowed to facts He grunted that a lying clock was hateful to him He has been tolerably honest, Tom, for a man and a lover He kept saying to himself, 'to-morrow I will tell' He postponed it to the next minute and the next He prattled, in the happy ignorance of compulsion He was in love, and subtle love will not be shamed and smothered He thinks that the country must be saved by its women as well He is in the season of faults He had his character to maintain He squandered the guineas, she patiently picked up the pence He neared her, wooing her; and she assented He judged of others by himself He is inexorable, being the guilty one of the two He had to shake up wrath over his grievances He had gone, and the day lived again for both of them He gave a slight sign of restiveness, and was allowed to go He loathed a skulker He clearly could not learn from misfortune He thinks or he chews He would neither retort nor defend himself He whipped himself up to one of his oratorical frenzies He put no question to anybody He took small account of the operations of the feelings He began ambitiously—It's the way at the beginning He never explained He never acknowledged a trouble, he dispersed it He was the prisoner of his word He wants the whip; ought to have had it regularly He had wealth for a likeness of strength He was a figure on a horse, and naught when off it He did not vastly respect beautiful women He sinks terribly when he sinks at all He was not a weaver of phrases in distress He lies as naturally as an infant sucks He tried to gather his ideas, but the effort was like that of a light dreamer He runs too much from first principles to extremes He gained much by claiming little He had by nature a tarnishing eye that cast discolouration He was too much on fire to know the taste of absurdity He smoked, Lord Avonley said of the second departure He had no recollection of having ever dined without drinking wine He stormed her and consented to be beaten He will be a part of every history (the fool) He was the maddest of tyrants—a weak one He had to go, he must, he has to be always going He never calculated on the happening of mortal accidents He had expected romance, and had met merchandize He condensed a paragraph into a line He lost the art of observing himself He had neat phrases, opinions in packets He's good from end to end, and beats a Christian hollow (a hog) Hear victorious lawlessness appealing solemnly to God the law Heart to keep guard and bury the bones you tossed him Heartily she thanked the girl for the excuse to cry Hearts that make one soul do not separately count their gifts Heathen vindictiveness declaring itself holy Heights of humour beyond laughter Her intimacy with a man old enough to be her grandfather Her vehement fighting against facts Her peculiar tenacity of the sense of injury Her feelings—trustier guides than her judgement in this crisis Her final impression likened him to a house locked up and empty Her aspect suggested the repose of a winter landscape Her singing struck a note of grateful remembered delight Her duel with Time Here, where he both wished and wished not to be Here and there a plain good soul to whom he was affectionate Hermits enamoured of wind and rain Hero embarked in the redemption of an erring beautiful woman Heroine, in common with the hero, has her ambition to be of use Herself, content to be dull if he might shine Hesitating strangeness that sometimes gathers during absences Himself in the worn old surplice of the converted rake His aim to win the woman acknowledged no obstacle in the means His idea of marriage is, the taking of the woman into custody His gaze and one of his ears, if not the pair, were given His ridiculous equanimity His alien ideas were not unimpressed by the picture His restored sense of possession His wife alone, had, as they termed it, kept him together His equanimity was fictitious His fancy performed miraculous feats His violent earnestness, his imperial self-confidence His apparent cynicism is sheer irritability Holding to the refusal, for the sake of consistency Holding to his work after the strain's over—That tells the man Holy images, and other miraculous objects are sold Honest creatures who will not accept a lift from fiction Hope which lies in giving men a dose of hysterics Hopeless task of defending a woman from a woman Hopes of a coming disillusion that would restore him Hosts of men are of the simple order of the comic How angry I should be with you if you were not so beautiful! How Success derides Ambition! How many degrees from love gratitude may be How immensely nature seems to prefer men to women! How little a thing serves Fortune's turn How to compromise the matter for the sake of peace? How many instruments cannot clever women play upon How little we mean to do harm when we do an injury Hug the hatred they packed up among their bundles Human nature to feel an interest in the dog that has bitten you Humour preserved her from excesses of sentiment Huntress with few scruples and the game unguarded Hushing together, they agreed that it had been a false move I do not defend myself ever I have learnt as much from light literature as from heavy I have and hold—you shall hunger and covet I cannot get on with Gibbon I could be in love with her cruelty, if only I had her near me I married a cook She expects a big appetite I want no more, except to be taught to work I detest anything that has to do with gratitude I know nothing of imagination I haven't got the pluck of a flea I hate old age It changes you so I would cut my tongue out, if it did you a service I can't think brisk out of my breeches I look on the back of life I never pay compliments to transparent merit I always respected her; I never liked her I give my self, I do not sell I cannot live a life of deceit. A life of misery—not deceit I was discontented, and could not speak my discontent I laughed louder than was necessary I had to cross the park to give a lesson I cannot delay; but I request you, that