“He was persuaded he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could for ever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“I can forgive injuries, but never benefits.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“But alas! my Lord, what is blood! what is nobility! We are all reptiles, miserable, sinful creatures. It is piety alone that can distinguish us from the dust whence we sprung, and whither we must return.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends directly to the catastrophe.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“The gentle maid, whose hapless tale,
these melancholy pages speak;
say, gracious lady, shall she fail
To draw the tear a down from thy cheek?”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“I fear no bad angel, and have offended no good one.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“A bystander often sees more of the game than those that play”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“It is natural for a translator to be prejudiced in favour of his adopted work. More impartial readers may not be so much struck with the beauties of this piece as I was. Yet I am not blind to my author's defects.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“Manfred, Prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda. Conrad, the son, was three years younger, a homely youth, sickly, and of no promising disposition; yet he was the darling of his father, who never showed any symptoms of affection to Matilda. Manfred had contracted a marriage for his son with the Marquis of Vicenza’s daughter, Isabella; and she had already been delivered by her guardians into the hands of Manfred, that he might celebrate the wedding as soon as Conrad’s infirm state of health would permit.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“Heaven mocks the short-sighted views of man.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“Manfred, Prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda. Conrad, the son, was three years younger, a homely youth, sickly, and of no promising disposition”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“This life is but a pilgrimage.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“I desired you once before,” said Manfred angrily, “not to name that woman: from this hour she must be a stranger to you, as she must be to me. In short, Isabella, since I cannot give you my son, I offer you myself.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“This is a bad world; nor have I had cause to leave it with regret.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“I come," replied he, "to thee, Manfred, usurper of the principality of Otranto, from the renowned and invincible Knight, the Knight of the Gigantic Sabre: in the name of his Lord, Frederic, Marquis of Vicenza, he demands the Lady Isabella, daughter of that Prince, whom thou hast basely and traitorously got into thy power, by bribing her false guardians during his absence; and he requires thee to resign the principality of Otranto, which thou hast usurped from the said Lord Frederic, the nearest of blood to the last rightful Lord, Alfonso the Good. If thou dost not instantly comply with these just demands, he defies thee to single combat to the last extremity.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
“My veracity is dearer to me than my life," said the peasant; "nor would I purchase the one by forfeiting the other.”
― Horace Walpole, quote from The Castle of Otranto
Horace Walpole
Born place: in London, England, The United Kingdom
Born date September 24, 1717
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― Holly Smale, quote from Model Misfit
“The architecture of the Minotaur’s heart is ancient. Rough hewn and many chambered, his heart is a plodding laborious thing, built for churning through the millennia. But the blood it pumps—the blood it has pumped for five thousand years, the blood it will pump for the rest of his life—is nearly human blood. It carries with it, through his monster’s veins, the weighty, necessary, terrible stuff of human existence: fear, wonder, hope, wickedness, love. But in the Minotaur’s world it is far easier to kill and devour seven virgins year after year, their rattling bones rising at his feet like a sea of cracked ice, than to accept tenderness and return it.”
― Steven Sherrill, quote from The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
“Where Darth Sidious had gained everything, Vader had lost everything, including–for the moment, at least–the self-confidence and unbridled skill he had demonstrated as Anakin Skywalker.”
― James Luceno, quote from The Rise of Darth Vader
“You think you're lost but you're not lost on your own. You're not alone. I will stand by you, I will help you through when you’ve done all you can do. If you can’t cope, I will dry your eyes. I will fight your fight, I will hold you tight and I won't let go. —Rascal Flatts”
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― Kate DiCamillo, quote from Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures
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