Affection Quotes - Page 37

• "Mine ain't a selfish affection, you know," said Mr. Toots, in the confidence engendered by his having been a witness of the Captain's tenderness. "It's the sort of thing with me, Captain Gills, that if I could be run over - or - or trampled upon - or - or thrown off a very high place -or anything of that sort - for Miss Dombey's sake, it would be the most delightful thing that could happen to me."

  Charles Dickens

  Love, Running, Selfish

  Charles Dickens (1890*). “Works”

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• If you could see my legs when I take my boots off, you'd form some idea of what unrequited affection is.

  Charles Dickens

  Funny, Humorous, Ideas

  'Dombey and Son' (1848) ch. 48 (Mr Toots)

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• ... Natural affections and instincts, my dear sir, are the most beautiful of the Almighty's works, but like other beautiful works of His, they must be reared and fostered, or it is as natural that they should be wholly obscured, and that new feelings should usurp their place, as it is that the sweetest productions of the earth, left untended, should be choked with weeds and briers.

  Charles Dickens

  Beautiful, Weed, Feelings

  Charles Dickens (1866). “Works: ¬The life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby ; 2”, p.186

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• Some philosophers tell us that selfishness is at the root of our best loves and affections. Mr. Dombey's young child was, from the beginning, so distinctly important to him as a part of his own greatness, or (which is the same thing) of the greatness of Dombey and Son, that there is no doubt his parental affection might have been easily traced, like many a goodly superstructure of fair fame, to a very low foundation.

  Charles Dickens

  Best Love, Children, Son

  Charles Dickens (1858). “Dombey and Son ... With frontispiece by H. K. Browne”, p.57

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• There can be no sexual love without lust; but, on the other hand, until the currents of lust in the organism have been irradiatedas to affect other parts of the psychic organism--at the least the affections and the social feelings--it is not yet sexual love. Lust, the specific sexual impulse, is indeed the primary and essential element in this synthesis, for it alone is adequate to the end of reproduction, not only in animals but in men. But it is not until lust is expanded and irradiated that it develops into the exquisite and enthralling flower of love.

  Havelock Ellis

  Love, Flower, Men

  Havelock Ellis (2013). “Sex in Relation to Society: Studies in The Psychology of Sex”, p.86, Butterworth-Heinemann

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• It may be safely affirmed that there neither is, nor can be, any essential difference between the language of prose and metrical composition.... They both speak by and to the same organs; the bodies in which both of them are clothed may be said to be of the same substance, their affections are kindred, and almost identical, not necessarily differing even in degree; Poetry sheds no tears "such as Angels weep," but natural and human tears; she can boast of no celestial ichor that distinguishes her vital juices from those of prose; the same human blood circulates through the veins of them both.

  William Wordsworth

  Angel, Blood, Differences

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• The world still wants its poet-priest, a reconciler, who shall not trifle with Shakspeare the player, nor shall grope in graves with Swedenborg the mourner; but who shall see, speak, and act, with equal inspiration. For knowledge will brighten the sunshine; right is more beautiful than private affection; and love is compatible with universal wisdom.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Beautiful, Inspiration, Sunshine

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1850). “Representative Men: Seven Lectures”, p.162

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• The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me; the element shows to him as it doth to me; all his senses have but human conditions; his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man; and though his affections are higher mounted than ours, yet, when they stoop, they stoop with the like wing.

  William Shakespeare

  Kings, Men, Equality

  William Shakespeare (1998). “Henry V”, p.211, Oxford University Press, USA

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• It is easier for an artful Man, who is not in Love, to persuade his Mistress he has a Passion for her, and to succeed in his Pursuits, than for one who loves with the greatest Violence. True Love hath ten thousand Griefs, Impatiencies and Resentments, that render a Man unamiable in the Eyes of the Person whose Affection he sollicits.

  Joseph Addison

  Love, Grief, Passion

  Joseph Addison (1712). “The Spectator”, p.53

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• I duly acknowledge that I have gone through a long life, with fewer circumstances of affliction than are the lot of most men. Uninterrupted health, a competence for every reasonable want, usefulness to my fellow-citizens, a good portion of their esteem, no complaint against the world which has sufficiently honored me, and above all, a family which has blessed me by their affections, and never by their conduct given me a moment's pain.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Pain, Blessed, Health

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• If your letters are as long as the bible, they will appear short to me. Only let them be brim full of affection.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Long, Letters, Ifs

  Thomas Jefferson (1830). “Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, from the Papers of Thomas Jefferson”, p.55

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• Our affections and beliefs are wiser than we; the best that is in us is better than we can understand; for it is grounded beyond experience, and guides us, blindfold but safe, from one age on to another.

  Robert Louis Stevenson

  Age, Safe, Belief

  Robert Louis Stevenson (2015). “The Complete Works of Robert Louis Stevenson: Novels, Short Stories, Poems, Plays, Memoirs, Travel Sketches, Letters and Essays (Illustrated Edition): The Entire Opus of Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer, containing Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped, Catriona and A Child's Garden of Verses”, p.4545, e-artnow

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• Humid seal of soft affections,
  Tend'rest pledge of future bliss,
  Dearest tie of young connections,
  Love's first snow-drop, virgin kiss.

  Robert Burns

  Kissing, Ties, Snow

  Robert Burns (1859). “The poetical works and letters of Robert Burns”, p.186

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• If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be thought on with respect, veneration, and affection by your sincere friend.

  George Washington

  Memories, Grateful, Long

  George Washington (1948). “Basic Writings of George Washington”

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• When Americans look out on the world, they see nothing but dark and menacing strangers who appear to have no sense of rhythm at all, nor any respect or affection for white people; and white Americans really do not know what to make of all this, except to increase the defense budget.

  James A. Baldwin

  Dark, White, People

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• Women have their heads in their hearts. Man seems to have been destined for a superior being; as things are, I think women generally better creatures than men. They have weaker appetites and weaker intellects but much stronger affections. A man with a bad heart has been sometimes saved by a strong head; but a corrupt woman is lost forever.

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  Strong, Women, Heart

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry Nelson Coleridge, Kathleen Coburn, Bart Keith Winer, Carl Woodring (1990). “Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Table Talk (2 v.)”, Bollingen Foundation

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• No men can act with effect who do not act in concert; no men can act in concert who do not act with confidence; no men can act with confidence who are not bound together with common opinions, common affections, and common interests.

  Edmund Burke

  Men, Together, Opinion

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• Our checks are pale. Our wallets are invalids.
  Past due, past due, is what our bills are saying
  and yet we kiss in every corner, scuffing the dust
  and the cat. Love rises like bread as we go bust.

  Anne Sexton

  Cat, Kissing, Past

  Anne Sexton (1978). “Words for Dr. Y.: uncollected poems with three stories”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)

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• Lady Sondes' match surprises, but does not offend me; had her
  first marriage been of affection, or had their been a grown-updaughter, I should not have forgiven her; but I consider
  everybody as having a right to marry once in their lives for
  love, if they can.

  Jane Austen

  Love, Marriage, Doe

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• When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.

  Laurence Sterne

  Names, Broken, Joy

  Laurence Sterne (1849). “The Works of Laurence Sterne: Containing the Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent., Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, Sermons, Letters, &c. With a Life of the Author Written by Himself”, p.599

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• True Shandeism, think what you will against it, opens the heart and lungs, and like all those affections which partake of its nature, it forces the blood and other vital fluids of the body to run freely thro' its channels, and makes the wheel of life run long and chearfully round.

  Laurence Sterne

  Running, Health, Heart

  'Tristram Shandy' (1759-67) bk. 4, ch. 32

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• Love, that is all I asked, a little love, daily, twice daily, fifty years of twice daily love like a Paris horse-butcher's regular, what normal woman wants affection?

  Samuel Beckett

  Love, Horse, Years

  Samuel Beckett (2012). “All That Fall and Other Plays for Radio and Screen”, p.36, Faber & Faber

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• Love requited is a short circuit.

  Samuel Beckett

  Love, Short Circuit, Circuits

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• In sum, all actions and habits are to be esteemed good or evil by their causes and usefulness in reference to the commonwealth, and not by their mediocrity, nor by their being commended. For several men praise several customs, and, contrarily, what one calls vice, another calls virtue, as their present affections lead them.

  Thomas Hobbes

  Men, Evil, Vices

  Thomas Hobbes (2014). “Behemoth or The Long Parliament”, p.45, University of Chicago Press

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• The great charm of poetry consists in lively pictures of the sublime passions, magnanimity, courage, disdain of fortune; or thoseof the tender affections, love and friendship; which warm the heart, and diffuse over it similar sentiments and emotions.

  David Hume

  Heart, Passion, Poetry

  David Hume (1758). “Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects”, p.453

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