A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

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A Tale of Two Cities QuotesQuotes from A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities is the twelfth novel by Charles Dickens.  The book was published in weekly installments in All the Year Round. The first chapters of the book were published in April of 1859.  The last chapter was printed in November of that same year.

The book deals with the French revolution. It’s one of the two historical novels by Dickens.  Barnaby Rudge is the other.

The idea for the novel came from a production of The Frozen Deep.  In 1857 Dickens acted in the play and portrayed the character of Richard Wardour.  (Dickens was interested in the stage and sometimes performed in amateur productions.) In the play Wardour decides that he’s going to kill Frank Aldersley because Frank stole his true love, Clara Burnham.  Instead Wardour saves Aldersley’s life at the cost of his own.  Wardour dies in Clara’s arms and earns her eternal gratitude for saving the life of the man that she loves.

In addition to giving Dickens the idea for A Tale of Two Cites, the play brought about lasting changes to Dickens’s life.  Professional actresses were hired to act in a benefit production of The Frozen Deep.  One of them was Ellen Ternan.  She became Dickens’s mistress.  Their affair lasted until Dickens’s death in 1870.

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. ~ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Six Perspective Quotes from Literature

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Perspective QuotesThink you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us? ~ Dune by Frank Herbert

Perhaps no man could appreciate his own world until he had seen it from space. ~ A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke

The very stone one kicks with one’s boot will outlast Shakespeare. ~ To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

One never can tell from the sidewalk just what the view is to some one on the inside, looking out. ~ Knocking the Neighbors by George Ade

Come what may, I am bound to think that all things are ordered for the best; though when the good is a furlong off, and we with our beetle eyes can only see three inches, it takes some confidence in general principles to pull us through. ~ The Stark Munro Letters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Will not a tiny speck very close to our vision blot out the glory of the world, and leave only a margin by which we see the blot? ~ Middlemarch by George Eliot

More Perspective Quotes from Literature

Anthony Trollope 1815-1882

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Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (April 24, 1815 – December 6, 1882) was one of the most successful and prolific novelists of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire.

Trollope was born in London.  His father, Thomas Anthony Trollope, was an unhappy man.  He wanted his sons to be raised as gentlemen, but didn’t have the means to make that happen. The money situation came to a head in 1834 when the entire Trollope family moved to Belgium to avoid being arrested for debt.

Later in 1834 Anthony accepted a position as clerk in the General Post Office in London. He worked for the postal system in various positions and locations until 1864.

Trollope wrote in his spare time and while traveling for his postal service job.  His finished his first novel, The Macdermots of Ballycloran, in 1845.

Ride at any fence hard enough, and the chances are you’ll get over. The harder you ride the heavier the fall, if you get a fall; but the greater the chance of your getting over. ~ Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

The Novels in the Chronicles of Barsetshire are:

  • The Warden (1855)
  • Barchester Towers (1857)
  • Doctor Thorne (1858)
  • Framley Parsonage (1861)
  • The Small House at Allington (1864)
  • The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)

Palliser Novels

  • Can You Forgive Her? (1865)
  • Phineas Finn (1869)
  • The Eustace Diamonds (1873)
  • Phineas Redux (1874)
  • The Prime Minister (1876)
  • The Duke’s Children (1880)

Other Novels by Anthony Trollope

  • The Macdermots of Ballycloran (1847)
  • The Kellys and the O’Kellys (1848)
  • La Vendée: An Historical Romance (1850)
  • The Three Clerks (1858)
  • The Bertrams (1859)
  • Castle Richmond (1860)
  • Orley Farm (1862)
  • The Struggles of Brown, Jones & Robinson (1862)
  • Rachel Ray (1863)
  • Miss Mackenzie (1865)
  • The Belton Estate (1866)
  • The Claverings (1867)
  • Nina Balatka (1867)
  • Linda Tressel (1868)
  • He Knew He Was Right (1869)
  • The Vicar of Bullhampton (1870)
  • Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite (1871)
  • Ralph the Heir (1871)
  • The Golden Lion of Granpère (1872)
  • Harry Heathcote of Gangoil (1874)
  • Lady Anna (1874)
  • The Way We Live Now (1875)
  • The American Senator (1877)
  • Is He Popenjoy? (1878)
  • John Caldigate (1879)
  • An Eye for an Eye (1879)
  • Cousin Henry (1879)
  • Ayala’s Angel (1881)
  • Doctor Wortle’s School (1881)
  • The Fixed Period (1882)
  • Kept in the Dark (1882)
  • Marion Fay (1882)
  • Mr. Scarborough’s Family (1883)
  • The Landleaguers (1883)
  • An Old Man’s Love (1884)

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Moby Dick by Herman Melville

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Moby Dick QuotesMoby Dick was written by Herman Melville. The work was first published as The Whale in London in October 1851.   The next month New York publishers issued the novel as Moby-Dick.

Moby Dick is based in part on Melville’s experience on a whaler. On December 30, 1840, he signed on as a green hand on the Acushnet.

The sinking of the Nantucket ship Essex in 1820 was another inspiration for the novel.  The ship sank after it was rammed by an enraged sperm whale.

Melville also drew on one other true-life event for the tale. An article in the May 1839 issue of The Knickerbocker told about an albino whale known as Mocha Dick.  The whale was rumored to have 20 or so harpoons in his back from other whalers, and appeared to attack ships with premeditated ferocity.

Despite the popularity of the novel today, only about 3,200 copies were sold during the Melville’s life.  He earned a little more than $1,200 for writing the book.

Though amid all the smoking horror and diabolism of a sea-fight, sharks will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship’s decks, like hungry dogs round a table where red meat is being carved, ready to bolt down every killed man that is tossed to them. ~ Moby Dick by Herman Melville

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Six Quotes about Danger from Literature

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Danger QuotesFear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself. ~ Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.” ~ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

“Do you know anything on earth which has not a dangerous side if it is mishandled and exaggerated? “ ~ The Land of Mist by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It is in the uncompromisingness with which dogma is held and not in the dogma or want of dogma that the danger lies. ~ The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler

By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward. ~ Moby Dick by Herman Melville

A man will tell you that he has worked in a mine for forty years unhurt by an accident as a reason why he should apprehend no danger, though the roof is beginning to sink. ~ Silas Marner by George Eliot

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Charlotte Bronte 1816 – 1855

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Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte was born on April 21, 1816 in Yorkshire.  She was the eldest of the three famous Bronte sisters.  (Anne and Emily were the other two.)  Charlotte is best known as the author of Jane Eyre.

Charlotte, Emily and Anne initially published their work using pen names.  They were Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell. The pseudonyms hid the sisters’ gender while preserving their initials.

In 1854 Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls.  Their courtship was turbulent.  Charlotte initially refused Arthur’s marriage proposal.  Even after Charlotte accepted his proposal her father was not convinced it was a good match.  He was concerned about Nicholls’s poor financial status.  Eventually all the obstacles were cleared.  They married on June 29, 1854.

Sadly, Charlotte died soon after the marriage.  She passed on March 31, 1855.  Her death certificate lists the cause of death as tuberculosis. However  some biographers suspect that she died from complications connected with the fact that she was pregnant.

To see and know the worst is to take from Fear her main advantage. ~ Villette by Charlotte Bronte

I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who had courage to go forth into its expanse, to seek real knowledge of life amidst its perils. ~ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Novels by Charlotte Bronte

  • Jane Eyre
  • Shirley
  • Villette
  • The Professor

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Dune by Frank Herbert

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Dune by Frank HerbertDune, by Frank Herbert, was published in 1965.  It’s the first installment of the Dune saga, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel of all time.

There are six novels in the Dune Series by Frank Herbert:

  • Dune – Published in 1965
  • Dune Messiah – Originally serialized in the Galaxy magazine in 1969
  • Children of Dune – Published in 1976, it became the first hardcover best-seller in the science fiction genre
  • God Emperor of Dune – Published in 1981
  • Heretics of Dune – Published in 1984
  • Chapterhouse: Dune – Publisher in 1985

Herbert’s Death

Frank Herbert died in 1986.  At the time of his death he’d been planning to write a seventh novel in the Dune series.  Two decades later, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson published two sequels.  Hunters of Dune  came out in 2006 and Sandworms of Dune  was published in 2007.  These two books were based in part on Frank Herbert’s notes for the seventh Dune novel.

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert

5 Quotes about Addiction from Literature

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Addiction Quotes From Literature“I remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly; a quarrel, but nothing wherefore. O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains!” ~ Othello by William Shakespeare

He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. “It is cocaine,” he said, “a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?” ~ The Sign of The Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Drugs age you after mental excitement. Lethargy then. Why? Reaction. A lifetime in a night. Gradually changes your character. ~ Ulysses by James Joyce

“I am only myself when I am drunk. Liquor makes me human. At other times I’m merely Charley Steele!” ~ The Right of Way by Gilbert Parker

“I see that a man cannot give himself up to drinking without being miserable one-half his days and mad the other.” ~ The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

More Addition Quotes from Literature

 

Frank Herbert the Author of Dune

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Frank Herbert’s full name was Frank Patrick Herbert, Jr.  He was born on October 8, 1920 in Tacoma, Washington. He’s best known for his novel Dune.  Before he became a popular author he worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, short story writer, book reviewer, ecological consultant and lecturer.  He died on February 11, 1986.

Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank HerbertTo learn more about Frank Herbert, and there’s tons more to know, check out Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert.  The book is written by Herbert’s son, Brian.  If you’re a fan of Dune you’re sure to love it.  You’ll also enjoy the book if you’re an aspiring writer or someone trying to make a new start in life.  Frank Herbert didn’t always have an easy road to travel. What he had was intellect, a strong work ethic, a unique vision and that made for one extraordinary life.  I loved this book and highly recommend it.

A fan of Dune said to me about this book, “The way that Brian presented his father, warts and all, reminded me of Dune Messiah.  Not that Brian was tearing down his father, but he presented both the good and bad about him.  I think that Frank Herbert wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. ~ Dune by Frank Herbert

Novels in the Dune Series by Frank Herbert:

  • Dune
  • Dune Messiah
  • Children of Dune
  • God Emperor of Dune
  • Heretics of Dune
  • Chapterhouse: Dune