Tobias Smollett Quotes
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I find that the old Roman baths of this quarter, were found covered by an old burying ground, belonging to the Abbey; through which, in all probability, the water drains in its passage; so that as we drink the decoction of the living bodies at the Pump-room, we swallow the strainings of rotten bones and carcasses at the private bath - I vow to God, the very idea turns my stomach!
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To the valiant actions speak alone.
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On Leven's banks, while free to rove, And tune the rural pipe to love, I envied not the happiest swain That ever trod the Arcadian plain. Pure stream! in whose transparent wave My youthful limbs I wont to lave; No torrents stain thy limpid source, No rocks impede thy dimpling course, That sweetly warbles o'er its bed, With white, round, polish'd pebbles spread.
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The capital is become an overgrown monster; which, like a dropsical head, will in time leave the body and extremities without nourishment and support.
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Thy spirit, Independence, let me share! Lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye thy steps I follow with my bosom bare, nor heed the storm that howls along the sky.
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A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail. Index-hunter is a term used mockingly, meaning one who acquires superficial knowledge merely by consulting indexes. The '[holding] the eel of science by the tail' allusion was used in 1728 by Alexander Pope (q.v.).
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True courage scorns to vent her prowess in a storm of words; and to the valiant action speaks alone.
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One wit, like a knuckle of ham in soup, gives a zest and flavour to the dish, but more than one serves only to spoil the pottage.
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The Highlanders regale themselves with whisky. They find it an excellent preservation against the winter cold. It is given with great success to the infants in the confluent smallpox.
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Thy fatal shafts unerring move; I bow before thine altar, Love!
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Opposition is the very spur of love.
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Deep in the frozen regions of the north, A goddess violated brought thee forth, Immortal Liberty!
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The bread I eat in London, is a deleterious paste, mixed up with chalk, alum, and bone ashes: insipid to the taste, and destructive to the constitution.
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Of this diversion the Scots are so fond, that, when the weather will permit, you may see a multitude of all ranks, from the senator of justice to the lowest tradesman, mingled together, in their shirts, and following the balls with utmost eagerness.
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Nature I'll court in her sequester'd haunts, By mountain, meadow, streamlet, grove, or cell; Where the pois'd lark his evening ditty chants, And health, and peace, and contemplation dwell.
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A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.
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The great Cham of literature. (Samuel Johnson)
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Glory is the child of peril.
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Nature and wisdom are not, but should be, companions.
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False as the fowler's artful snare.
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Some folks are wise and some are otherwise.
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Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall.
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Ridiculous modes, invented by ignorance, and adopted by folly.
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A man's opinion of danger varies at different times, in consequence of an irregular tide of animal spirits; and he is actuated by considerations which he dares not avow.