“A truly refined mind will seem to be ignorant of the existence of anything that is not perfectly proper, placid, and pleasant.” ~ Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit Quotes
The Marshalsea debtors’ prison plays a large part in Little Dorrit. Few people knew that Dickens’s father had been sent to Marshalsea for three months. We hope you enjoy this collection of 51 quotes from Little Dorrit.
It was the momentary yielding
It was the momentary yielding of a nature that had been disappointed from the dawn of its perceptions, but had not quite given up all its hopeful yearnings yet. ~ Little Dorrit
A prison taint was on
A prison taint was on everything there. The imprisoned air, the imprisoned light, the imprisoned damps, the imprisoned men, were all deteriorated by confinement. As the captive men were faded and haggard, so the iron was rusty, the stone was slimy, the wood was rotten, the air was faint, the light was dim. Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no knowledge of the brightness outside, and would have kept its polluted atmosphere intact in one of the spice islands of the Indian ocean. ~ Little Dorrit
A tranquil summer sunset shone
A tranquil summer sunset shone upon him as he approached the end of his walk, and passed through the meadows by the river side. He had that sense of peace, and of being lightened of a weight of care, which country quiet awakens in the breasts of dwellers in towns. ~ Little Dorrit
None of us clearly know
None of us clearly know to whom or to what we are indebted in this wise, until some marked stop in the whirling wheel of life brings the right perception with it. It comes with sickness, it comes with sorrow, it comes with the loss of the dearly loved, it is one of the most frequent uses of adversity. ~ Little Dorrit
And thus ever by day
And thus ever by day and night, under the sun and under the stars, climbing the dusty hills and toiling along the weary plains, journeying by land and journeying by sea, coming and going so strangely, to meet and to act and react on one another, move all we restless travellers through the pilgrimage of life. ~ Little Dorrit
Melancholy streets, in a penitential
Melancholy streets, in a penitential garb of soot, steeped the souls of the people who were condemned to look at them out of windows, in dire despondency. ~ Little Dorrit
“You will profit by the
“You will profit by the failure, and will avoid it another time. I have done a similar thing myself, in construction, often. Every failure teaches a man something, if he will learn.” ~ Little Dorrit
“Once a gentleman, and always
“Once a gentleman, and always a gentleman.” ~ Little Dorrit
“One always begins to forgive
“One always begins to forgive a place as soon as it’s left behind.” ~ Little Dorrit
