George Henry Borrow Quotes

• There's night and day, brother, both sweet things; sun, moon, and stars, brother, all sweet things; there's likewise a wind on the heath. Life is very sweet, brother; who would wish to die?

  George Henry Borrow

  Life, Sweet, Brother

  'Lavengro' (1851) ch. 25

  48 Copy quote

• We must walk before we run.

  George Henry Borrow

  Running, Journey, Hiking

  George Henry Borrow (1851). “Lavengro: the scholar--the gypsy--the priest”, p.15

  8 Copy quote

• Sherry...a silly, sickly compound, the use of which will transform a nation, however bold and warlike by nature, into a race of sketchers, scribblers, and punsters, in fact into what Englishmen are at the present day.

  George Henry Borrow

  Silly, Race, Use

  "Wild Wales". Book by George Henry Borrow, ch. 38, 1862.

  5 Copy quote

• Good ale, the true and proper drink of Englishmen. He is not deserving of the name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale.

  George Henry Borrow

  Beer, Names, Ale

  George Henry Borrow (1851). “Lavengro: The Scholar--the Gypsy--the Priest”, p.345

  8 Copy quote

• It has been said that idleness is the parent of mischief, which is very true; but mischief itself is merely an attempt to escape from the dreary vacuum of idleness.

  George Henry Borrow

  Parent, Vacuums, Laziness

  George Henry Borrow (2012). “The Pocket George Borrow”, p.73, tredition

  9 Copy quote

• Two great talkers will not travel far together.

  George Henry Borrow

  Breakup, Two, Together

  George Henry Borrow (1852). “Roving Adventures, Or Lavengro: The Scholar - the Gipsy - the Priest”, p.200

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• I have always been a friend to hero-worship; it is the only rational one, and has always been in use amongst civilized people - the worship of spirits is synonymous with barbarism - it is mere fetish. ... There is something philosophic in the worship of the heroes of the human race.

  George Henry Borrow

  Hero, Race, People

  George Henry Borrow (1852). “Roving Adventures, Or Lavengro: The Scholar - the Gipsy - the Priest”, p.138

  5 Copy quote

• I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.

  George Henry Borrow

  Sleep, People, Tables

  George Henry Borrow (1843). “The Bible in Spain; Or the Journeys, Adventures and Imprisonnements of an Englishman, in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula”, p.344

  5 Copy quote

• Translation is at best an echo.

  George Henry Borrow

  Echoes, Language, Translations

  George Henry Borrow (1851). “Lavengro: The Scholar--the Gypsy--the Priest”, p.151

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• The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has a sedative effect upon the nerves, and enables a man to bear the sorrows of this life (of which every one has his share) not only decently, but dignifiedly.

  George Henry Borrow

  Philosophy, Men, People

  George Henry Borrow (1851). “Lavengro: The Scholar--the Gypsy--the Priest”, p.136

  9 Copy quote

• Next to the love of God, the love of country is the best preventive of crime.

  George Henry Borrow

  Country, Next, God Love

  George Henry Borrow (1848). “Gypsies of Spain”, p.27

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• Never ride your horse more than five-and-thirty miles a day, always taking more care of him than of yourself; which is right and reasonable, seeing as how the horse is the best animal of the two.

  George Henry Borrow

  Horse, Animal, Two

  George Henry Borrow (1858). “The Romany Rye: A Sequel to "Lavengro."”, p.296

  4 Copy quote

• Youth will be served, every dog has his day, and mine has been a fine one.

  George Henry Borrow

  Dog, Youth, Fine

  'Lavengro' (1851) ch. 92

  7 Copy quote

• There is a peculiarity in the countenance, as everybody knows, which, though it cannot be described, is sure to betray the Englishman.

  George Henry Borrow

  Betray, Englishmen, Countenance

  George Henry Borrow (1848). “Gypsies of Spain”, p.19

  4 Copy quote

• A losing trade, I assure you, sir: literature is a drug.

  George Henry Borrow

  Drug, Literature, Losing

  'Lavengro' (1851) ch. 30.

  7 Copy quote

• If you must commit suicide ... always contrive to do it as decorously as possible; the decencies, whether of life or of death, should never be lost sight of.

  George Henry Borrow

  Suicide, Suicidal, Sight

  Lavengro Ch. XXIII

  9 Copy quote

• There are no countries in the world less known by the British than those selfsame British Islands.

  George Henry Borrow

  Country, Islands, World

  8 Copy quote

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