The 55 best quotes by Charles Dickens

The author of 'Oliver Twist' leaves us famous quotes to dream.

Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870) was one of the most prominent English writers of the Victorian era, whose life was not easy for him to make his way through family problems, as his father suffered from gambling and had to go to jail for not taking care of debts.

Due to the lack of family income, Charles Dickens had to start earning his bread at an early age, working in factories and printing presses, observing the terrible conditions in which the lower classes worked, which is why he dedicated his works to this theme.

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The most famous phrases of Charles Dickens

In this article we bring you the most outstanding phrases of the British author. These famous quotes by Charles Dickens are not only excerpts from Oliver Twist or other of his most famous works, but also reflections that he pronounced for the written press.

1. Happiness is a gift that we must enjoy when it arrives.

Dickens reflects on how little we get to enjoy the happy moments.

2. We should never be ashamed of our tears, they are the rain that sweeps away the blinding dust that covers our hearts.

A criticism of the fallacy that "men never cry".

3. In this life there are days worth living for, and days worth dying for.

This is how the author referred to the good and bad moments in life.

4. If the wounds of the Heart grow deeper as it grows older and stronger, love her, love her, love her.

For Dickens, love was not only pleasure, but also pain.

5. I have been too cowardly to do what I knew was right, just as I have been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew was wrong.

Sometimes you do what you must, and not what you want.

6. I hope that true love and truth will ultimately be stronger than any misfortune.

For Charles Dickens love and truth were dependent variables, which must be above evil.

7. Concentrate on all the good things that happen to you, which happen to all of us; and not on the misfortunes, which happen to all of us.

Refocus on being more aware of enjoying the good moments, which are greater than the unfortunate ones.

8. I cannot seal my lips where I have opened my heart.

Dickens was a very expressive person who said what his heart led him to say.

9. Every traveler has a home, no matter where

Any place can be considered a home, even outside our borders.

10. No one who alleviates the ills of others is useless in this world.

This is how the author defended good people, who are necessary for a world that is sometimes unjust.

11. A heart that loves is the truest wisdom.

Charles Dickens made an ode to love as a way of arriving at the truth.

12. We forge the chains we wear during our lives.

We are the masters of our own destiny.

13. We should never be ashamed of our tears.

Once again, it refers to the courage of men who weep.

14. You appear in all the lines I have read in my life.

It is not certain whether it refers to a love, a friend or God.

15. Love is what makes the world go round, my love.

That's how passionate Charles was in front of his beloved.

16. A sincere word is worth more than a speech

Always so forceful, he held the truth above all else.

17. The pain of separation is incomparable to the joy of reunion.

Two opposite moments that the British author captures in this way. Ecstasy and drama.

18. There are strings in the human heart that are better never to vibrate.

Charles was a very emotional person, which made him a very sensitive being.

19. A home that learns to love more during travels.

We often don't appreciate what we have, and it always takes exploring other places and traveling to realize that.

20. There is nothing in the world as irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.

Dickens was a person little given to bitterness or anger, and always maintained a positive attitude.

21. Regret is proper to those who comb gray hairs

In this sense, regret is a waste of time.

22. Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.

Charles Dickens valued in this way not to waste time in life, nor to leave anything for later.

23. The family are those people for whom we would spill our blood.

This is how the author describes the family ties among its members.

24. Never trust the appearance, but the evidence.

Nothing is what it seems until we explore it. We should not value the first thing we see.

25. Restrain your appetites, my friends, and you will have conquered human nature.

He who knows how to control his emotions, will know how to control life.

26. No repentance can make amends for the lost opportunities in life.

Once again he shows how stupid it is to regret past deeds.

27. Hatred of those at the top is the unconscious homage of those at the bottom.

According to Charles Dickens, hating is another way of wasting the good things in life.

28. When a man bleeds inwardly, it is dangerous for him, but when he laughs inwardly, it is a presage of some evil to others.

In this way he described one of the treacherous emotions of the human being.

29. To conceal anything from those I love is not in my nature.

Once again, Charles Dickens showed his predilection for truth and the avoidance of lies.

30. There is nothing so strong and sure during a crisis in life as the truth.

It is in bad times that one should behave correctly, without being untruthful.

31. There are books whose front and back covers are by far the best parts.

A good way to emphasize the importance of these two elements of a book.

32. Spring is the time of the year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.

This is how Charles Dickens described the most curious season of the year.

33. Ask no questions and no lies will be answered.

The less you know, the more unconscious you are, ergo the happier in ignorance.

34. There is a wisdom of the head and a wisdom of the heart.

The author distinguished between two types of wisdom in the human being.

35. A multitude of people and, even so, loneliness.

It is not because we are more surrounded by people that we need to feel accompanied. Sometimes the opposite is true.

36. What better gift is there than the love of a cat?

Charles Dickens was a fierce lover of this domestic pet.

37. Money and goods are the best references

In a classist and materialistic society, this is how the author interpreted the references that were valid in the 19th century.

38. There are shadows and darkness in this world, but the light eclipses them.

For Dickens, light prevailed over shadow. The truth to the lie.

39. If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.

Charles Dickens worked as a barrister in the courts, and often made reflections like these.

40. I will honor Christmas in my heart, and will try to do so all the year round

For this novelist Christmas was a sacred date.

41. Cows are my passion, my dream is to retire in Switzerland surrounded by them.

A peculiar and curious note from Charles, lover of nature and of this normal animal.

42. I just want to be free, butterflies are free.

In this peculiar way the author described his love of freedom.

43. Industry is the soul of business and prosperity.

This is how Charles Dickens defended the industrial activity of the 19th century.

44. A day wasted on others is a day of profit to ourselves.

If we do something for others, we do it for ourselves as well.

45. We must be understood as we are; both success and failure make us what we are.

People are identified by these two elements, they are indispensable in forging our being.

46. Credit is a system by which a person who cannot pay makes another person who cannot pay guarantee that he can pay.

A clear criticism of the credit financing model, given that it is liquid money that does not exist.

47. Liberty, equality, fraternity or death. The last is the easiest to grant

This is how forceful the author was when describing these elements that are part of human life.

48. It is not worth remembering the past, unless it has some influence on the present.

Any memory or negative experience of the past deserves to be forgotten. It is what allows us to move forward.

49. Gold blinds man, destroys his values and numbs his feelings more than coal smoke.

In the 19th century gold was man's greed, which corrupted him. Today it would be money.

50. The vices are sometimes virtues carried to excess.

Everything in its measure is an advantage, disproportion is negative.

51. Sorrow will never heal a bone nor mend a heart.

Another way for the author to avoid drama and discomfort. He always maintained a positivist attitude.

52. He who only listens is the worst of all listeners.

Charles Dickens thus expressed his suspicion of those who never expressed themselves.

53. Cheerfulness and humor are the best way to combat old age.

Once again, he shows his pleasure in maintaining a positive attitude at all times.

54. I don't know the American gentleman. God forgive me for having put those two words together!

With this phrase, the British author scorned the manners of the Americans, with a humorous tone.

55. Those people who learn what endurance is, are the ones everyone calls 'friend'.

This is how he valued friendship, as individuals who are there for us in the bad moments of life.