In short, I should have liked, I do confess, to have had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value. ~ A Christmas Carol
The noise in this room
The noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than Scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. ~ A Christmas Carol
“You fear the world too
“You fear the world too much,” she answered, gently. “All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you.” ~ A Christmas Carol
He was conscious of a
He was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten! ~ A Christmas Carol
“If they would rather die,”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” ~ A Christmas Carol
“Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting
“Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.” ~ A Christmas Carol
“No space of regret can
“No space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused!” ~ A Christmas Carol
“Oh God! to hear the
“Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!” ~ A Christmas Carol
“The happiness he gives, is
“The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” ~ A Christmas Carol
“Business!” cried the Ghost
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” ~ A Christmas Carol