Quotes from The Diary of a Nobody

George Grossmith ·  176 pages

Rating: (10.5K votes)


“I never was so immensely tickled by anything I had ever said before. I actually woke up twice during the night, and laughed till the bed shook.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“What's the good of a home, if you are never in it?”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“Some people seem quite destitute a sense of humour.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“. . . doesn't it seem odd that Gowing's always coming and Cummings' always going?”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“Charlie dear, it is I who have to be proud of you. And I am very, very proud of you. You have called me pretty; and as long as I am pretty in your eyes, I am happy. You, dear old Charlie, are not handsome, but you are good, which is far more noble.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody



“He said he wouldn’t stay, as he didn’t care much for the smell of the paint, and fell over the scraper as he went out. Must get the scraper removed, or else I shall get into a scrape. I don’t often make jokes.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“He may wear what he likes in the future, for I shall never drive with him again. His conduct was shocking. When we passed Highgate Archway, he tried to pass everything and everybody. He shouted to respectable people who were walking quietly in the road to get out of the way; he flicked at the horse of an old man who was riding, causing it to rear; and, as I had to ride backwards, I was compelled to face a gang of roughs in a donkey-cart, whom Lupin had chaffed, and who turned and followed us for nearly a mile, bellowing, indulging in coarse jokes and laughter, to say nothing of occasionally pelting us with orange-peel.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“I told Sarah not to bring up the blanc-mange again for breakfast. It seems to have been placed on our table at every meal since Wednesday… In spite of my instructions, that blanc-mange was brought up again for supper. To make matters worse, there had been an attempt to disguise it, by placing it in a glass dish with jam round it...I told Carrie, when we were alone, if that blanc-mange were placed on the table again I should walk out of the house.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“It’s concerning you both; for doesn’t it seem odd that Gowing’s always coming and Cummings’ always going?” ”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“We were rather afraid of the noise of the trains at first, but the landlord said we should not notice them after a bit, and took £2 off the rent.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody



“Never in my life have I ever been so insulted; the cabman, who was a rough bully and to my thinking not sober, called me every name he could lay his tongue to, and positively seized me by the beard, which he pulled till the tears came into my eyes.  I took the number of a policeman (who witnessed the assault) for not taking the man in charge.  The policeman said he couldn’t interfere, that he had seen no assault, and that people should not ride in cabs without money.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“April 22.—I have of late frequently noticed Carrie rubbing her nails a good deal with an instrument, and on asking her what she was doing, she replied: “Oh, I’m going in for manicuring.  It’s all the fashion now.”  I said: “I suppose Mrs. James introduced that into your head.”  Carrie laughingly replied: “Yes; but everyone does it now.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


“Lupin, like Mr. Huttle, has original and sometimes wonderful ideas; but it is those ideas that are so dangerous.  They make men extremely rich or extremely poor.  They make or break men.  I always feel people are happier who live a simple unsophisticated life.  I believe I am happy because I am not ambitious.”
― George Grossmith, quote from The Diary of a Nobody


About the author

George Grossmith
Born place: in Islington, London, The United Kingdom
Born date December 9, 1847
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Don't leave me again. God. God. Don't leave me again."

"I didn't"

"Part of you did." He moved her back, and his eyes swarmed with emotion. "Part of you left me, and I couldn't stand it.”
― J.D. Robb, quote from Innocent in Death


“The odd thing, my dear," said her father, "is that once one has ceased trying to protect self, one finds one's self in a very comfortable position."
"Where?" asked Kale
"In Wulder's care.”
― Donita K. Paul, quote from DragonFire


“And somewhere inside me I felt an awful feeling that something in my life was coming quietly to an end.”
― Hitomi Kanehara, quote from Snakes and Earrings


“This sounds basic, almost too basic to mention, but listening is a strategy and a skill that is losing ground in society. Most people think they are good listeners, but if adults played “the Telephone Game” today, how accurate would the final message be? Listening requires focus, and focus isn’t easy because we’re stretched in several directions. Listening”
― Travis Bradberry, quote from Emotional Intelligence 2.0: With Access Code


“Forgive my asking you to use your mind. It is a thing which no novelist should expect of his reader...”
― Owen Wister, quote from The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains


Interesting books

Barely Breathing
(63.4K)
Barely Breathing
by Rebecca Donovan
Forest Born
(22.2K)
Forest Born
by Shannon Hale
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
(47.9K)
God Bless You, Mr. R...
by Kurt Vonnegut
The Tender Bar
(26.2K)
The Tender Bar
by J.R. Moehringer
Vanish
(28.4K)
Vanish
by Sophie Jordan
Collide
(60.2K)
Collide
by Gail McHugh

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.