Quotes from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn’t specify the point. He’s an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No sir; I can make no hand of it; I can’t describe him. And it’s not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Ethics are my veiled mistress; I love them, but know not what they are.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion and is one of the most plentiful springs of distress. Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the futherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged. With a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow; and it was not till weariness had begun to succeed, that I was suddenly, in the top fit of my delirium, struck through the heart by a cold thrill of terror.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“I was still cursed with my duality of purpose.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“but that in case of Dr. Jekyll's "disappearance or unexplained absence for any period exceeding three calendar months," the said Edward Hyde should step into the said Henry Jekyll's shoes without further delay and free from any burthen or obligation beyond the payment of a few small sums to the members of the doctor's household”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Don't you know Poole, you and I are about to place ourselves in a position of some peril?”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“The moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Ah, it's an ill-conscience that's such an enemy to rest!”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Her eyes took hold upon mine and clung there, and bound us together like the joining of hands; and the moments we thus stood face to face, drinking each other in, were sacramental and the wedding of souls.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“To flee was more than I could find courage for; but I registered a vow of unsleeping circumspection.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Though so profound a double-dealer, I was in no sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I laboured, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief of sorrow and suffering. And”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“Stevenson's story strips away all the distancing devices of the traditional Gothic, locating the horror of atavistic returns in central London, in the present and in the body and mind of a representative of the professional classes.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

“I wish you to judge for me entirely,’ was the reply. ‘I have lost confidence in myself.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, quote from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror

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“To a casual passerby, his appearance would not have inspired much confidence. His overcoat was patched in spots and frayed at the cuffs, he wore an old tweed suit that was missing a button, his white shirt was stained with ink and tobacco, and his tie--this was perhaps the strangest of all--was knotted not once, but twice, as if he'd forgotten whether he'd tied it and, rather than glancing down to check, had simply tied it again for good measure. His white hair poked out from beneath his hat, and his eyebrows rose from his forehead like great snowy horns, curling over a pair of bent and patched tortoiseshell glasses. All in all, he looked like someone who'd gotten dressed in the midst of a whirlwind and, thinking he still looked too presentable, had thrown himself down a flight of stairs.

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