Quotes from Ivanhoe

Walter Scott ·  544 pages

Rating: (74.9K votes)


“For he that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“We are like the herb which flourisheth most when trampled upon”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“I have heard men talk about the blessings of freedom," he said to himself, "but I wish any wise man would teach me what use to make of it now that I have it.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Chivalry!---why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection---the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant ---Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“I envy thee not thy faith, which is ever in thy mouth but never in thy heart nor in thy practice”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe



“Silence, maiden; thy tongue outruns thy discretion.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“I will tear this folly from my heart, though every fibre bleed as I rend it away!”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“In the name of God!" said Gurth, "how came they prisoners? and to whom?"
"Our master was too ready to fight," said the Jester, "and Athelstane was not ready enough, and no other person was ready at all.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“I forgive you, Sir Knight," said Rowena, "as a Christian."

"That means," said Wamba, "that she does not forgive him at all.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“I have sought but a kindred spirit to share it, and I have found such in thee.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe



“Certainly," quoth Athelstane, "women are the least to be trusted of all animals, monks and abbots excepted.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Thou hast had thty day, old dame, but thy sun has long been set. Thou art now the very emblem of an old warhorse turned out on the barren heath; thou hast had thy paces in thy time, but now a broken amble is the best of them.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“He that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“And my father!-oh, my father! evil is it with his daughter, when his grey hairs are not remembered because of the golden locks of youth!”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“The lovers of the chase say that the hare feels more agony during the pursuit of the greyhounds, than when she is struggling in their fangs.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe



“Now, it is well known, that a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actual breach either of real good breeding or of good morals, than appear ignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“…having once seen him put forth his strength in battle, methinks I could know him again among a thousand warriors. He rushes into the fray as if he were summoned to a banquet. There is more than mere strength--there seems as if the whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to every blow which he deals upon his enemies. God assoilzie him of the sin of bloodshed! It is fearful, yet magnificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man can triumph over hundreds.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Meantime the clang of the bows and the shouts of the combatants mixed fearfully with the sound of the trumpets, and drowned the groans of those who fell, and lay rolling defenceless beneath the feet of the horses. The splendid armour of the combatants was now defaced with dust and blood, and gave way at every stroke of the sword and battle-axe. The gay plumage, shorn from the crests, drifted upon the breeze like snowflakes. All that was beautiful in the martial array had disappeared, and what was now visibke was only calculated to awaken terror or compassion.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“the worst evil which befalls our race is, that when we are wronged and plundered, all the world laughs around, and we are compelled to suppress our sense of injury, and to smile tamely, when we would revenge bravely.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Revenge is a feast for the
gods!”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe



“Thou and I are but the blind instruments of some irresistible fatality, that hurries us along, like ships driving before the storm, which are dashed against each other, and so perish”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Thus do men throw on fate the issue of their own wild passions.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“As he offered to advance, she exclaimed, "Remain where thou art, proud Templar, or at thy choice advance!--one foot nearer, and I plunge myself from the precipice; my body shall be crushed out of the very form of humanity upon the stones of that courtyard ere it become the victim of thy brutality!”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“adversity bends the heart as fire bends the stubborn steel, and those who are no longer their own governors, and the denizens of their own free independent state, must crouch before strangers.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Thy resolution may fluctuate on the wild and changeful billows of human opinion, but mine is anchored on the Rock of Ages.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe



“Rebecca! she who could prefer death to dishonor must have a proud and powerful soul!”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“…having once seen him put forth his strength in battle, methinks I could know him again among a thousand warriors. He rushes into the fray as if he were summoned to a banquet. There is more than mere strength—there seems as if the whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to every blow which he deals upon his enemies. God assoilzie him of the sin of bloodshed! It is fearful, yet magnificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man can triumph over hundreds.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Chivalry!—why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection—the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant—Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“Is death the last sleep? No, it is the last final awakening.”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe


“God of Jacob! it is the meeting of two fierce tides - the conflict of two oceans moved by adverse winds!”
― Walter Scott, quote from Ivanhoe



About the author

Walter Scott
Born place: in Edinburgh, Scotland
Born date August 15, 1771
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