Quotes from The Vicar of Wakefield

“I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“I armed her against the censure of the world, showed her that books were sweet unreproaching companions to the miserable, and that if they could not bring us to enjoy life, they would at least teach us to endure it.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent it seldom has justice enough to accuse.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“law grinds the poor, rich men rule the law”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“As the reputation of books is raised not by their freedom from defect, but the greatness of their beauties, so should that of men be prized not for their exemption from fault, but the size of those virtues they are possessed of.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“…The more enormous our wealth, the more extensive our fears, all our possessions are paled up with new edicts every day, and hung round with gibbets to scare every invader.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“The nakedness of the indignant world may be cloathed from the trimmings of the vain.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“What we place most hopes upon, generally proves most fatal.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“I have known many of those pretended champions for liberty in my time, yet do I not remember one that was not in his heart and in his family a tyrant.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“The beast retires to it's shelter, and the bird flies to it's nest; but the helpless man can only find refuge in his fellow creature.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“At this he laughed, and so did we: the jests of the rich are ever successful.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“We are not to judge of the feelings of others by what we might feel if in their place. However dark the habitation of the mole to our eyes, yet the animal itself finds the apartment sufficiently lightsome.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“the laws govern the poor, and the rich govern the law”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“Now, Sir, for my own part, as I naturally hate the face of a tyrant, the farther off he is removed from me, the better pleased am I. The generality of mankind also are of my way of thinking, and have unanimously created one king, whose election at once diminishes the number of tyrants, and puts tyranny at the greatest distance from the greatest number of people.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“My friends, my children, and fellow sufferers, when I reflect on the
distribution of good and evil here below, I find that much has been
given man to enjoy, yet still more to suffer. Though we should examine
the whole world, we shall not find one man so happy as to have nothing
left to wish for; but we daily see thousands who by suicide shew us they
have nothing left to hope. In this life then it appears that we cannot
be entirely blest; but yet we may be completely miserable!”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

“Premature consolation is but the remembrancer of sorrow.”
― Oliver Goldsmith, quote from The Vicar of Wakefield

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Popular quotes

“Nu puteam crede că sunt și eu asemenea celorlalte mii de muritori nefericiți, care iubesc și uită, și mor fără să socotească nimic etern, nimic definitiv.”
― Mircea Eliade, quote from Maitreyi

“کتابوں سے محبت کرنے والے لوگ اس قدر سنجیدہ ہوجاتے ہیں کہ مزاح ان کی زندگی سے مکمل طور پر نکل جاتا ہے اور وہ سارا وقت لمبا جبہ پہن کر پڑھے ہوئے نظریات کی لاٹھی سے دوسروں کی پٹائی میں مصروف رہتے ہیں.”
― Bano Qudsia, quote from Raja Gidh / راجه گدھ

“The battle of Iwo Jima would quickly turn into a primitive contest of gladiators: Japanese gladiators fighting from caves and tunnels like the catacombs of the Colosseum, and American gladiators aboveground, exposed on all sides, using liquid gasoline to burn their opponents out of their lethal hiding places.

All of this on an island five and a half miles long and two miles wide. An area smaller than Doc Bradley's hometown of Antigo, but bearing ten times the humanity. A car driving sixty miles an hour could cover its length in five and a half minutes. For the slogging, dying Marines, it would take more than a month.”
― James D. Bradley, quote from Flags of Our Fathers

“It's funny," she said, with a strange hitch in her voice, "but I never wanted to be tied to anyone. Never wanted to be owned or to belong to another person. But now I realize that belonging with someone is completely different. I belong with you, Con."

"And I with you."

He kissed her, sealing them together with a bond she didn't mind, and one that would never be broken.”
― Larissa Ione, quote from Sin Undone

“if you are unwilling to endure your own suffering even for an hour, and ontinually forestall all possible misfortune, if you regard as deserving of annihilation, any suffering and pain generally as evil, as detestable, and as blots on existence, well, you have then, besides your religion of compassion, yet another religion in your heart (and this is perhaps the mother of the former)-the religion of smug ease. Ah, how little you know of the happiness of man, you comfortable and good-natured ones!for happiness and misfortune are brother and sister, and twins, who grow tall together, or, as with you, remain small together!”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, quote from The Gay Science

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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.