40 Straightforward Quotes by Charles Dickens

There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.Oliver Twist (1838), (ed. 1904), Chapter XIV, Page 74

Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.Great Expectations (1861), (ed. 1875), Chapter XL, Page 385

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Book III, Chapter XV, Page 254

We need never be ashamed of our tears.Great Expectations (1861), (ed. 1875), Chapter XIX, Page 184

Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.Oliver Twist (1838), (ed. 1904), Chapter XXXVII, Page 207

Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well dressed.Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), Chapter V, Page 50

The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none.Sketches by Boz (1836), (ed. 1854), Part I, Chapter V, Page 17

The worst of all listeners is the man who does nothing but listen.All the Year Round (June 6, 1874) Volume 12, Issue 288, The Art of Listening, Page 179

Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!David Copperfield (1850), Chapter XII, Page 125

No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot.Our Mutual Friend (1865), Book I, Chapter III, Page 15

A person who can’t pay, gets another person who can’t pay, to guarantee that he can pay. Like a person with two wooden legs getting another person with two wooden legs, to guarantee that he has got two natural legs. It don’t make either of them able to do a walking match.
Also known as: Credit is a system whereby a person who can not pay gets another person who can not pay to guarantee that he can pay.Little Dorrit (1857), Book I, Chapter XXIII, Page 224

Ask no questions, and you’ll be told no lies.Great Expectations (1861), (ed. 1875), Chapter II, Page 14

Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs.Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), Chapter X, Page 119

Vices are sometimes only virtues carried to excess!Dombey and Son (1848), Chapter LVIII, Page 581

I must be taken as I have been made. The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me.Great Expectations (1861), (ed. 1875), Chapter XXXVIII, Page 353

A good uniform must work its way with the women, sooner or later.Chapter XXXVII, The Pickwick Papers (1837), Chapter XXXVI, Page 398

Ideas, like ghosts, must be spoken to a little before they will explain themselves.Dombey and Son (1848), Chapter XII, Page 118

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.Our Mutual Friend (1865), Book III, Chapter II, Page 364

A loving heart was better and stronger than wisdom.David Copperfield (1850), Chapter IX. I Have a Memorable Birthday, Page 96

To conceal anything from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips where I have opened my heart.
Also known as: Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart.Master Humphrey's Clock (1840), (ed. 1909), Chapter VI, Page 357

If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), (ed. 1853), Chapter LVI, Page 255

Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you’ve conquered human nature.Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Chapter V, Page 36

Throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise.Great Expectations (1861), (ed. 1875), Chapter XXVII, Page 252

Although a skillful flatterer is a most delightful companion if you can keep him all to yourself, his taste becomes very doubtful when he takes to complimenting other people.Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Chapter XXVIII, Page 272

The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother.Barnaby Rudge (1841), Chapter LXXIX, Page 507

When a man bleeds inwardly, it is a dangerous thing for himself; but when he laughs inwardly, it bodes no good to other people.The Pickwick Papers (1837), Chapter XXX, Page 324

Great men are seldom over scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire.The Pickwick Papers (1837), Chapter II, Page 5

I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don’t trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance, any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.Hunted Down (1859), Chapter 11, Page 176

Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.Sketches by Boz (1836)(ed. 1854), Part III, Chapter II, Page 134

What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.A Christmas Carol (1843), Stave I. Marley's Ghost, Page 7

The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Chapter III, Page 22

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for any one else.Our Mutual Friend (1865), Book III, Chapter IX, Page 432

While there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour.A Christmas Carol (1843), Stave III, Page 105

Life is made of ever so many partings welded together.Great Expectations (1861), (ed. 1875), Chapter XXVII, Page 259

Trifles make the sum of life.David Copperfield (1850), Chapter LIII, Page 544

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Book I, Chapter I, Page 1

It’s in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present.David Copperfield (1850), Chapter XXIII, Page 245

The habit of paying compliments kept a man’s tongue oiled without any expense.The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), (ed. 1853), Chapter XXXV, Page 158

There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.The Pickwick Papers (1837), Chapter LVI, Page 607

Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), Chapter XXVII, Page 335