Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself. ~ Great Expectations
Oliver Twist has asked for more
“Oliver Twist has asked for more!” ~ Oliver Twist
The Ship’s A Good Ship
“I am not afeard, my Heart’s-delight,” resumed the Captain. “There’s been most uncommon bad weather in them latitudes, there’s no denyin’, and they have drove and drove and been beat off, may be t’other side the world. But the ship’s a good ship, and the lad’s a good lad; and it ain’t easy, thank the Lord,” the Captain made a little bow, “to break up hearts of oak, whether they’re in brigs or buzzums.” ~ Dombey and Son
It’s My Old Girl That Advises
“George,” says Mr. Bagnet. “You know me. It’s my old girl that advises. She has the head. But I never own to it before her. Discipline must be maintained. Wait till the greens is off her mind. Then we’ll consult. Whatever the old girl says, do–do it!” ~ Bleak House
Take Another Glass
"Take another glass of wine, and excuse my mentioning that society as a body does not expect one to be so strictly conscientious in emptying one's glass, as to turn it bottom upwards with the rim on one's nose." ~ Great Expectations
The Education of Mr. Jonas
The education of Mr. Jonas had been conducted from his cradle on the strictest principles of the main chance. The very first word he learnt to spell was "gain" and the second (when he got into two syllables), "money". But for two results, which were not ~ Martin Chuzzlewit
How Well I Remember
How well I remember the forlorn aspect of Fleet Street when I came out of the Temple! The street-lamps flickering in the gusty north-east wind, as if the very gas were contorted with cold; the white-topped houses; the bleak, star-lighted sky; the market people and other early stragglers, trotting to circulate their almost frozen blood; the hospitable light and warmth of the few coffee-shops and public-houses that were open for such customers; the hard, dry, frosty rime with which the air was charged (the wind had already beaten it into every crevice), and which lashed my face like a steel whip. ~ The Holly-Tree
Skewered Through and Through
Skewered through and through with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape. ~ David Copperfield
I Hope For Better Things
"Walter," she said, looking full upon him with her affectionate eyes, "like you, I hope for better things. I will pray for them, and believe that they will arrive." ~ Dombey and Son
It Is Not My Desire
"It is not my desire to wound the feelings of any person with whom I am connected in family bonds. I may be a hypocrite," said Mr. Pecksniff, cuttingly, "but I am not a brute." ~ Martin Chuzzlewit
