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Nothing Like The Act Of Eating For Equalizing Men. Dying Is Nothing To It.
-Elizabeth Gaskell
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Nothing Like The Act

Elizabeth Gaskell
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Nothing Like The Act Of Eating For Equalizing Men. Dying Is Nothing To It.

Understanding the Quote: "nothing like the act of eating for equalizing men. dying is nothing..."

This quote by Elizabeth Gaskell reflects deeply on the theme of men. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Men, Dying, Eating, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Elizabeth Gaskell interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell is celebrated for insightful thoughts on men and dying. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Men
Dying
Eating
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All The Earth, Though It Were Full Of Kind Hearts, Is But A Desolation And Desert Place To A Mother When Her Only Child Is Absent.
Mother
Children
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Margaret Liked This Smile; It Was The First Thing She Had Admired In This New Friend Of Her Father's; And The Opposition Of Character, Shown In All These Details Of Appearance She Had Just Been Noticing, Seemed To Explain The Attraction They Evidently Felt Towards Each Other.
Smile
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He Came Up Straight To Her Father, Whose Hands He Took And Wrung Without A Word - Holding Them In His For A Minute Or Two, During Which Time His Face, His Eyes, His Look, Told Of More Sympathy Than Could Be Put Into Words.
Father
Eye
Hands
Oh! That Look Of Love!" Continued He, Between His Teeth, As He Bolted Himself Into His Own Private Room. "and That Cursed Lie; Which Showed Some Terrible Shame In The Background, To Be Kept From The Light In Which I Thought She Lived Perpetually! Oh, Margaret, Margaret! Mother, How You Have Tortured Me! Oh! Margaret, Could You Not Have Loved Me? I Am But Uncouth And Hard, But I Would Never Have Led You Into Any Falsehood For Me.
Mother
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Light
I Never Did Write A Biography, And I Don't Exactly Know How To Set About It; You See I Have To Be Accurate And Keep To The Facts, A Most Difficult Thing For A Writer Of Fiction.
Writing
Fiction
Biographies
Don't Think To Come Over Me With Th' Old Tale, That The Rich Know Nothing Of The Trials Of The Poor; I Say, If They Don't Know, They Ought To Know.
Thinking
Trials
Rich
I Daresay It Seems Foolish; Perhaps All Our Earthly Trials Will Appear Foolish To Us After A While; Perhaps They Seem So Now To Angels. But We Are Ourselves, You Know, And This Is Now, Not Some Time To Come, A Long, Long Way Off. And We Are Not Angels, To Be Comforted By Seeing The Ends For Which Everything Is Sent.
Angel
Long
Trials
When Oranges Came In, A Curious Proceeding Was Gone Through. Miss Jenkyns Did Not Like To Cut The Fruit, For, As She Observed, The Juice All Ran Out Nobody Knew Where, Sucking [only I Think She Used Some More Recondite Word] Was In Fact The Only Way Of Enjoying Oranges; But Then There Was The Unpleasant Association With A Ceremony Frequently Gone Through By Little Babies; And So, After Dessert, In Orange Season, Miss Jenkyns And Miss Matty Used To Rise Up, Possess Themselves Each Of An Orange In Silence, And Withdraw To The Privacy Of Their Own Rooms To Indulge In Sucking Oranges.
Baby
Cutting
Thinking
I Dare Not Hope. I Never Was Fainthearted Before; But I Cannot Believe Such A Creature Cares For Me.
Believe
Care
Dare
Well, He Had Known What Love Was-a Sharp Pang, A Fierce Experience, In The Midst Of Whose Flames He Was Struggling! But, Through That Furnace He Would Fight His Way Out Into The Serenity Of Middle Age,-all The Richer And More Human For Having Known This Great Passion.
Struggle
Passion
Fighting
He Almost Said To Himself That He Did Not Like Her, Before Their Conversation Ended; He Tried So Hard To Compensate Himself For The Mortified Feeling, That While He Looked Upon Her With An Admiration He Could Not Repress, She Looked At Him With Proud Indifference, Taking Him, He Thought, For What, In His Irritation, He Told Himself - Was A Great Fellow, With Not A Grace Or A Refinement About Him.
Irritation
Grace
Feelings
Trust A Girl Of Sixteen For Knowing Well If She Is Pretty; Concerning Her Plainness She May Be Ignorant.
Girl
Knowing
Ignorant
A Girl In Love Will Do A Good Deal.
Girl
Deals
One Word More. You Look As If You Thought It Tainted You To Be Loved By Me. You Cannot Avoid It. Nay, I, If I Would, Cannot Cleanse You From It. But I Would Not, If I Could. I Have Never Loved Any Woman Before: My Life Has Been Too Busy, My Thoughts Too Much Absorbed With Other Things. Now I Love, And Will Love. But Do Not Be Afraid Of Too Much Expression On My Part.
Expression
Looks
Too Much
There Was A Filmy Veil Of Soft Dull Mist Obscuring, But Not Hiding, All Objects, Giving Them A Lilac Hue, For The Sun Had Not Yet Fully Set; A Robin Was Singing ... The Leaves Were More Gorgeous Than Ever; The First Touch Of Frost Would Lay Them All Low To The Ground. Already One Or Two Kept Constantly Floating Down, Amber And Golden In The Low Slanting Sun-rays.
Autumn
Two
Giving
Of All Faults The One She Most Despised In Others Was The Want Of Bravery; The Meanness Of Heart Which Leads To Untruth.
Heart
Bravery
Want
No One Loves Me, - No One Cares For Me, But You, Mother.
Mother
Care
No One Cares
Anticipation Was The Soul Of Enjoyment.
Soul
Anticipation
Enjoyment
Mr. Thornton Felt That In This Influx No One Was Speaking To Margaret, And Was Restless Under This Apparent Neglect. But He Never Went Near Her Himself; He Did Not Look At Her. Only, He Knew What She Was Doing — Or Not Doing — Better Than Anyone Else In The Room. Margaret Was So Unconscious Of Herself, And So Much Amused By Watching Other People, That She Never Thought Whether She Was Left Unnoticed Or Not.
People
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Rooms
One May Be Clogged With Honey And Unable To Rise And Fly.
May
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Phony
As She Realized What Might Have Been, She Grew To Be Thankful For What Was.
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Might
Grew
What Other People May Think Of The Rightness Or Wrongness Is Nothing In Comparison To My Own Deep Knowledge, My Innate Conviction That It Was Wrong.
Thinking
People
May
. . . It Seemed To Me That Where Others Had Prayed Before To Their God, In Their Joy Or In Their Agony, Was Of Itself A Sacred Place.
Agony
Joy
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We Do Not Look For Reason For Logic In The Passionate Entreaties Of Those Who Are Sick Unto Death; We Are Stung With The Recollection Of A Thousand Slighted Opportunities Of Fulfilling The Wishes Of Those Who Will Soon Pass Away From Among Us: And Do They Ask Us For The Future Happiness Of Our Lives, We Lay It At Their Feet, And Will It Away From Us.
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How Easy It Is To Judge Rightly After One Sees What Evil Comes From Judging Wrongly!
Evil
Judging
Judgement
I Have Passed Out Of Childhood Into Old Age. I Have Had No Youth - No Womanhood; The Hopes Of Womanhood Have Closed For Me - For I Shall Never Marry; And I Anticipate Cares And Sorrows Just As If I Were An Old Woman, And With The Same Fearful Spirit.
Childhood
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Age
If They Came Sorrowing, And Wanting Sympathy In A Complicated Trouble Like The Present, Then They Would Be Felt As A Shadow In All These Houses Of Intimate Acquaintances, Not Friends
House
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Margaret Was Not A Ready Lover, But Where She Loved She Loved Passionately, And With No Small Degree Of Jealousy.
Degrees
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Really It Is Very Wholesome Exercise, This Trying To Make One's Words Represent One's Thoughts, Instead Of Merely Looking To Their Effect On Others.
Exercise
Trying
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God Has Made Us So That We Must Be Mutually Dependent. We May Ignore Our Own Dependence, Or Refuse To Acknowledge That Others Depend Upon Us In More Respects Than The Payment Of Weekly Wages; But The Thing Must Be, Nevertheless. Neither You Nor Any Other Master Can Help Yourselves. The Most Proudly Independent Man Depends On Those Around Him For Their Insensible Influence On His Character - His Life.
Character
Independent
Men
Did I Ever Say An Engagement Was An Elephant, Madam?
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The French Girls Would Tell You, To Believe That You Were Pretty Would Make You So.
Girl
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It Was Her Brother,' Said Mr. Thornton To Himself. 'i Am Glad.i May Never See Her Again; But It Is Comfort-a Relief-to Know That Much. I Knew She Could Not Be Unmaidenly; And Yet I Yearned For Conviction. Now I Am Glad!' It Was A Little Golden Thread Running Through The Dark Web Of His Present Fortunes; Which Were Growing Ever Gloomier And More Gloomy.
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Dark
I Wish I Could Love People As You Do, Molly!' 'don't You?' Said The Other, In Surprise. 'no. A Good Number Of People Love Me, I Believe, Or At Least They Think They Do; But I Never Seem To Care Much For Any One. I Do Believe I Love You, Little Molly, Whom I Have Only Known For Ten Days, Better Than Any One.
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Thinking
Nothing Like The Act Of Eating For Equalizing Men. Dying Is Nothing To It.
Men
Dying
Eating
She Lay Down And Never Stirred. To Move Hand Or Foot, Or Even So Much As One Finger, Would Have Been An Exertion Beyond The Powers Of Either Volition Or Motion. She Was So Tired, So Stunned, That She Thought She Never Slept At All; Her Feverish Thoughts Passed And Repassed The Boundary Between Sleeping And Waking, And Kept Their Own Miserable Identity.
Moving
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Sleep
I Won't Say She Was Silly, But I Think One Of Us Was Silly, And It Wasn't Me.
Silly
Margaret Found That The Indifferent, Careless Conversations Of One Who, However Kind, Was Not Too Warm And Anxious A Sympathizer, Did Her Good.
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Found
Conversation
But The Future Must Be Met, However Stern And Iron It Be.
Iron
Mets
Out Of The Way! We Are In The Throes Of An Exceptional Emergency! This Is No Occassion For Sport- There Is Lace At Stake!" (ms. Pole)
Sports
Way
Emergencies
Come! Poor Little Heart! Be Cheery And Brave. We'll Be A Great Deal To One Another, If We Are Thrown Off And Left Desolate.
Heart
Brave
Littles
She Freshens Me Up Above A Bit. Who'd Ha Thought That Face - As Bright And As Strong As The Angel I Dream Of - Could Have Known The Sorrow She Speaks On? I Wonder How She'll Sin. All On Us Must Sing.
Dream
Strong
Angel
My Heart Burnt Within Me With Indignation And Grief; We Could Think Of Nothing Else. All Night Long We Had Only Snatches Of Sleep, Waking Up Perpetually To The Sense Of A Great Shock And Grief. Every One Is Feeling The Same. I Never Knew So Universal A Feeling.
Grief
Sleep
Heart
I Dare Say There's Many A Woman Makes As Sad A Mistake As I Have Done, And Only Finds It Out Too Late.
Mistake
Too Late
Done
Oh Yes!' And Suddenly The Wintry Frost-bound Look Of Care Had Left Mr. Thornton's Face, As If Some Soft Summer Gale Had Blown All Anxiety Away From His Mind; And, Though His Mouth Was As Much Compressed As Before, His Eyes Smiled Out Benignly On His Questioner.
Summer
Eye
Anxiety
Miss Jenkyns Wore A Cravat, And A Little Bonnet Like A Jockey-cap, And Altogether Had The Appearance Of A Strong-minded Woman; Although She Would Have Despised The Modern Idea Of Women Being Equal To Men. Equal, Indeed! She Knew They Were Superior.
Strong
Men
Ideas
But The Trees Were Gorgeous In Their Autumnal Leafiness - The Warm Odours Of Flowers And Herb Came Sweet Upon The Sense.
Sweet
Flower
Tree
It Seems Strange To Think, That What Gives Us Most Hope For The Future Should Be Called Dolores, Said Margaret.
Thinking
Giving
Strange
I Do Try To Say, God’s Will Be Done, Sir,” Said The Squire, Looking Up At Mr. Gibson For The First Time, And Speaking With More Life In His Voice; “but It’s Harder To Be Resigned Than Happy People Think.
Thinking
Voice
People
She Had A Fierce Pleasure In The Idea Of Telling Margaret Unwelcome Truths, In The Shape Of Performance Of Duty.
Ideas
Shapes
Fierce
But Suppose It Was Truth Double Strong, It Were No Truth To Me If I Couldna Take It In. I Daresay There's Truth In Yon Latin Book On Your Shelves; But It's Gibberish And No Truth To Me, Unless I Know The Meaning O' The Words.
Strong
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Book
Waiting Is Far More Difficult Than Doing.
Waiting
Difficult
He Had Tenderness In His Heart — ‘a Soft Place,’ As Nicholas Higgins Called It; But He Had Some Pride In Concealing It; He Kept It Very Sacred And Safe, And Was Jealous Of Every Circumstance That Tried To Gain Admission. But If He Dreaded Exposure Of His Tenderness, He Was Equally Desirous That All Men Should Recognize His Justice; And He Felt That He Had Been Unjust, In Giving So Scornful A Hearing To Anyone Who Had Waited, With Humble Patience, For Five Hours, To Speak To Him.
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If You Dare To Injure Her In The Least, I Will Await You Where No Policeman Can Step In Between. And God Shall Judge Between Us Two.
Two
Judging
Steps
Oh, I Can't Describe My Home. It Is Home, And I Can't Put Its Charm Into Words
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Again, Stepping Nearer, He Besought Her With Another Tremulous Eager Call Upon Her Name. 'margaret!' Still Lower Went The Head; More Closely Hidden Was The Face, Almost Resting On The Table Before Her. He Came Close To Her. He Knelt By Her Side, To Bring His Face To A Level With Her Ear; And Whispered-panted Out The Words: — 'take Care. — If You Do Not Speak — I Shall Claim You As My Own In Some Strange Presumptuous Way.
Names
Sides
Ears
Mr Thornton Would Rather Have Heard That She Was Suffering The Natural Sorrow. In The First Place, There Was Selfishness Enough In Him To Have Taken Pleasure In The Idea That His Great Love Might Come In To Comfort And Console Her; Much The Same Kind Of Strange Passionate Pleasure Which Comes Stinging Through A Mother's Heart, When Her Drooping Infant Nestles Close To Her, And Is Dependent Upon Her For Everything.
Mother
Taken
Heart
Oh, My Margaret--my Margaret! No One Can Tell What You Are To Me! Dead--cold As You Lie There You Are The Only Woman I Ever Loved! Oh, Margaret--margaret!
Lying
Cold
To Be Sure A Stepmother To A Girl Is A Different Thing To A Second Wife To A Man!
Marriage
Girl
Men
She Never Called Her Son By Any Name But John; 'love' And 'dear', And Such Like Terms, Were Reserved For Fanny.
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Names
Term
Yes! He Knew How She Would Love. He Had Not Loved Her Without Gaining That Instinctive Knowledge Of What Capabilities Were In Her. Her Soul Would Walk In Glorious Sunlight If Any Man Was Worthy, By His Power Of Loving, To Win Back Her Love.
Winning
Men
Soul
Man, Through All Ages Of Revolving Time, Unchanging Man, In Every Varying Clime, Deems His Own Land Of Every Land The Pride, Beloved By Heaven O'er All The World Beside; Home, The Spot Of Earth Supremely Blest, A Dearer, Sweeter Spot Than All The Rest.
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Men
Nevertheless, His Moustachios Are Splendid.
Splendid
Nevertheless
It Had Been A Royal Time Of Luxury To Him, With All Its Stings And Contumelies, Compared To The Poverty That Crept Round And Clipped The Anticipation Of The Future Down To Sordid Fact, And Life Without An Atmosphere Of Either Hope Or Fear.
Luxury
Atmosphere
Poverty
Mr. Thorton Love Margaret! Why, Margraret Would Never Think Of Him, I'm Sure! Such A Thing Has Never Entered Her Head." "entering Her Heart Would Do.
Heart
Thinking
Entering
But Mr. Hale Resolved That He Would Not Be Disturbed By Any Such Nonsensical Idea; So He Lay Awake, Determining Not To Think About It.
Insomnia
Thinking
Ideas
He Could Remember All About It Now; The Pitiful Figure He Must Have Cut; The Absurd Way In Which He Had Gone And Done The Very Thing He Had So Often Agreed With Himself In Thinking Would Be The Most Foolish Thing In The World; And Had Met With Exactly The Consequences Which, In These Wise Moods, He Had Always Foretold Were Certain To Follow, If He Ever Did Make Such A Fool Of Himself.
Wise
Memorable
Unrequited Love
But Margaret Went Less Abroad, Among Machinery And Men; Saw Less Of Power In Its Public Effect, And, As It Happened, She Was Thrown With One Or Two Of Those Who, In All Measures Affecting Masses Of People, Must Be Acute Sufferers For The Good Of Many. The Question Always Is, Has Everything Been Done To Make The Sufferings Of These Exceptions As Small As Possible?
Men
Two
People
What's The Use Of Watching? A Watched Pot Never Boils.
Waiting
Anxiety
Use
Opportunities Are Not Often Wanting Where Inclination Goes Before.
Opportunity
Inclination
I Wanted To See The Place Where Margaret Grew To What She Is, Even At The Worst Time Of All, When I Had No Hope Of Ever Calling Her Mine.
Worst Times
Calling
Grew
Thinking Has, Many A Time, Made Me Sad, Darling; But Doing Never Did In All My Life....my Precept Is, Do Something, My Sister, Do Good If You Can; But At Any Rate, Do Something.
Thinking
My Sister
Made
Margaret Had Always Dreaded Lest Her Courage Should Fail Her In Any Emergency, And She Should Be Proved To Be, What She Dreaded Lest She Was--a Coward. But Now, In This Real Great Time Of Reasonable Fear And Nearness Of Terror, She Forgot Herself, And Felt Only An Intense Sympathy--intense To Painfulness--in The Interests Of The Moment.
Real
Coward
Emergencies
There Is Nothing Like Wounded Affection For Giving Poignancy To Anger.
Father
Anger
Giving
When Prayers Were Ended, And His Mother Had Wished Him Good-night With That Long Steady Look Of Hers Which Conveyed No Expression Of The Tenderness That Was In Her Heart, But Yet Had All The Intensity Of A Blessing.
Good Night
Mother
Prayer
People May Flatter Themselves Just As Much By Thinking That Their Faults Are Always Present To Other People's Minds, As If They Believe That The World Is Always Contemplating Their Individual Charms And Virtues.
Self Esteem
Believe
Self Confidence
Don’t Be Afraid,” She Said, Coldly, “ As Far As Love May Go She May Be Worthy Of You. It Must Have Taken A Good Deal To Overcome Her Pride. Don’t Be Afraid, John.
Taken
Pride
Overcoming
Mrs Forrester ... Sat In State, Pretending Not To Know What Cakes Were Sent Up, Though She Knew, And We Knew, And She Knew That We Knew, And We Knew That She Knew That We Knew, She Had Been Busy All The Morning Making Tea-bread And Sponge-cakes.
Morning
Cake
Tea
Your Husband This Morning! Mine Tonight! What Do You Take Him For?' 'a Man' Smiled Cynthia. 'and Therefore, If You Won't Let Me Call Him Changeable, I'll Coin A Word And Call Him Consolable.
Morning
Husband
Men
It Is Odd Enough To See How The Entrance Of A Person Of The Opposite Sex Into An Assemblage Of Either Men Or Women Calms Down The Little Discordances And The Disturbance Of Mood.
Sex
Men
Opposites
There Is Always A Pleasure In Unravelling A Mystery, In Catching At The Gossamer Clue Which Will Guide To Certainty.
Mystery
Clue
Pleasure
I Take It That 'gentleman' Is A Term That Only Describes A Person In His Relation To Others; But When We Speak Of Him As 'a Man,' We Consider Him Not Merely With Regard To His Fellow-men, But In Relation To Himself,--to Life--to Time--to Eternity.
Men
Gentleman
Fellow Man
His Laws Once Broken, His Justice And The Very Nature Of Those Laws Bring The Immutable Retribution; But If We Turn Penitently To Him, He Enables Us To Bear Our Punishment With A Meek And Docile Heart, ‘for His Mercy Endureth Forever.
Heart
Law
Punishment
Blot Your Misdeeds Out (if You Are Particularly Conscientious), By A Good Deed, As Soon As You Can; Just As We Did A Correct Sum At School On The Slate, Where An Incorrect One Was Only Half Rubbed Out. It Was Better Than Wetting Our Sponge With Our Tears; Both Less Loss Of Time Where Tears Had To Be Waited For, And A Better Effect At Last.
School
Loss
Tears
I Am So Tired - So Tired Of Being Of Being Whirled On Through All These Phases Of My Life, In Which Nothing Abides By Me, No Creature, No Place; It Is Like The Circle In Which The Victims Of Earthly Passion Eddy Continually.
Passion
Tired
Circles
On Some Such Night As This She Remembered Promising To Herself To Live As Brave And Noble A Life As Any Heroine She Ever Read Or Heard Of In Romance, A Life Sans Peur Et Sans Reproche; It Had Seemed To Her Then That She Had Only To Will, And Such A Life Would Be Accomplished. And Now She Had Learnt That Not Only To Will, But Also To Pray, Was A Necessary Condition In The Truly Heroic. Trusting To Herself, She Had Fallen.
Night
Romance
Brave
Nay, Nay!” Said The Squire. “it’s Not So Easy To Break One’s Heart. Sometimes I’ve Wished It Were. But One Has To Go On Living—‘all The Appointed Days,’ As Is Said In The Bible.
Heart
Goes On
Sometimes
Look Back. Look Back At Me." Richard Armitage Spoke This Line In The Movie North And South As He Watched Miss Hale Drive Away In A Carriage.
Missing
Looks
Lines
He Had Not An Ounce Of Superfluous Flesh On His Bones, And Leanness Goes A Great Way Towards Gentility.
Body
Flesh
Way
I Value My Own Independence So Highly That I Can Fancy No Degradation Greater Than That Of Having Another Man Perpetually Directing And Advising And Lecturing Me, Or Even Planning Too Closely In Any Way About My Actions. He Might Be The Wisest Of Men, Or The Most Powerful - I Should Equally Rebel And Resent His Interference.
Powerful
Men
Independence
I Would Not Trust A Mouse To A Woman If A Man's Judgment Could Be Had.
Trust
Men
Mice
But The Cloud Never Comes In That Quarter Of The Horizon From Which We Watch For It.
Clouds
New Horizons
Watches
Th' Longest Lane Will Have A Turning.
Hope
Lanes
A Solitary Life Cherishes Mere Fancies Until They Become Manias.
Solitary Life
Fancy
Cherish
In The First Place, Cranford Is In Possession Of The Amazons; All The Holders Of Houses Above A Certain Rent Are Women. If A Married Couple Come To Settle In The Town, Somehow The Gentleman Disappears; He Is Either Fairly Frightened To Death By Being The Only Man In The Cranford Parties, Or He Is Accounted For By Being With His Regiment, His Hip, Or Closely Engaged In Business All The Week In The Great Neighbouring Commercial Town Of Drumble, Distant Only Twenty Miles On A Railroad. In Short, Whatever Does Become Of The Gentlemen, They Are Not At Cranford.
Couple
Party
Men
She Would Fain Have Caught At The Skirts Of That Departing Time, And Prayed It To Return, And Give Her Back What She Had Too Little Valued While It Was Yet In Her Possession. What A Vain Show Life Seemed! How Unsubstantial, And Flickering, And Flitting! It Was As If From Some Aerial Belfry, High Up Above The Stir And Jar Of The Earth, There Was A Bell Continually Tolling, ‘all Are Shadows!—all Are Passing!—all Is Past!
Past
Giving
Shadow
But The Monotonous Life Led By Invalids Often Makes Them Like Children, Inasmuch As Thy Have Neither Of Them Any Sense Of Proportion In Events, And Seem Each To Believe That The Walls And Curtains Which Shut In Their World, And Shut Out Everything Else, Must Of Necessity Be Larger Than Anything Hidden Beyond.
Children
Wall
Believe
A Great Matter Calls Her Son With Terms Like Deal, And Love.
Son
And Love
Matter
What Could He Mean By Speaking So, As If I Were Always Thinking That He Cared For Me, When I Know He Does Not; He Cannot. ... But I Won't Care For Him. I Surely Am Mistress Enough Of Myself To Control This Wild, Strange, Miserable Feeling
Mean
Thinking
Feelings
A Wise Parent Humors The Desire For Independent Action, So As To Become The Friend And Advisor When His Absolute Rule Shall Cease.
Love
Wise
Independent
I Could Wish There Were A God, If It Were Only To Ask Him To Bless Thee.
Wish
Bless
Thee
It Is Bad To Believe You In Error. It Would Be Infinitely Worse To Have Known You A Hypocrite.
Believe
Hypocrite
Errors
She Stood By The Tea-table In A Light-coloured Muslin Gown, Which Had A Good Deal Of Pink About It. She Looked As If She Was Not Attending To The Conversation, But Solely Busy With The Tea-cups, Among Which Her Round Ivory Hands Moved With Pretty, Noiseless, Daintiness.
Light
Hands
Ivory
Neither Loss Of Father, Nor Loss Of Mother, Dear As She Was To Mr Thornton, Could Have Poisoned The Remembrance Of The Weeks, The Days, The Hours, When A Walk Of Two Miles, Every Step Of Which Was Pleasant, As It Brought Him Nearer And Nearer To Her, Took Him To Her Sweet Presence - Every Step Of Which Was Rich, As Each Recurring Moment That Bore Him Away From Her Made Him Recal Some Fresh Grace In Her Demeanour, Or Pleasant Pungency In Her Character.
Mother
Sweet
Father
It Is The First Changes Among Familiar Things That Make Such A Mystery Of Time To The Young; Afterwards We Lose The Sense Of The Mysterious. I Take Changes In All I See As A Matter Of Course. The Instability Of All Human Things Is Familiar To Me, To You It Is New And Oppressive." (mr. Bell)
Bells
Matter
Firsts
Oh Dear! A Drunken Infidel Weaver! Said Mr. Hale To Himself.
Weavers
Hale
Said
How Was It That He Haunted Her Imagination So Persistently? What Could It Be? Why Did She Care For What He Thought, In Spite Of All Her Pride In Spite Of Herself? She Believed That She Could Have Borne The Sense Of Almighty Displeasure, Because He Knew All, And Could Read Her Penitence, And Hear Her Cries For Help In Time To Come. But Mr.thornton-why Did She Tremble, And Hide Her Face In The Pillow? What Strong Feeling Had Overtaking Her At Last?
Strong
Pride
Imagination
He Could Not Forget The Touch Of Her Arms Around His Neck, Impatiently Felt As It Had Been At The Time; But Now The Recollection Of Her Clinging Defence Of Him, Seemed To Thrill Him Through And Through,—to Melt Away Every Resolution, All Power Of Self-control, As If It Were Wax Before A Fire.
Love
Romantic
Fire
The Question Always Is, Has Everything Been Done To Make The Sufferings Of These Exceptions As Small As Possible? Or, In The Triumph Of The Crowded Procession, Have The Helpless Been Trampled On, Instead Of Being Gently Lifted Aside Out Of The Roadway Of The Conqueror, Whom They Have No Power To Accompany On His March?
Suffering
Triumph
Done
He Shook Hands With Margaret. He Knew It Was The First Time Their Hands Had Met, Though She Was Perfectly Unconscious Of The Fact.
Hands
Firsts
Facts
"mr. Thornton," Said Margaret, Shaking All Over With Her Passion, "go Down This Instant, If You Are Not A Coward. Go Down And Face Them Like A Man. Save These Poor Strangers, Whom You Have Decoyed Here. Speak To Your Workmen As If They Were Human Beings. Speak To Them Kindly. Don't Let The Soldiers Come In And Cut Down Poor-creatures Who Are Driven Mad. I See One There Who Is. If You Have Any Courage Or Noble Quality In You, Go Out And Speak To Them, Man To Man."
Passion
Cutting
Men
Even Before He Left The Room, — And Certainly, Not Five Minutes After, The Clear Conviction Dawned Upon Her, Shined Bright Upon Her, That He Did Love Her; That He Had Loved Her; That He Would Love Her. And She Shrank And Shuddered As Under The Fascination Of Some Great Power.
Ideas
Fascination
Use
She Had A Bracelet On One Taper Arm, Which Would Fall Down Over Her Round Wrist. Mr. Thornton Watched The Replacing Of This Troublesome Ornament With Far More Attention Than He Listened To Her Father. It Seemed As If It Fascinated Him To See Her Push It Up Impatiently, Until It Tightened Her Soft Flesh; And Then To Mark The Loosening—the Fall. He Could Almost Have Exclaimed—'there It Goes, Again!
Father
Fall
Ornaments
How Shall I Ever Tell Aunt Shaw?' She Whispered, After Some Time Of Delicious Silence. 'let Me Speak To Her.' 'oh, No! I Owe It To Her, - But What Will She Say?' 'i Can Guess. Her First Exclamation Will Be, "that Man!" ' 'hush!' Said Margaret, 'or I Shall Try And Show You Your Mother's Indignant Tones As She Says, "that Woman!"
Mother
Aunt
Men
Loyalty And Obedience To Wisdom And Justice Are Fine; But It Is Still Finer To Defy Arbitrary Power, Unjustly And Cruelly Used--not On Behalf Of Ourselves, But On Behalf Of Others More Helpless.
Loyalty
Justice
Arbitrary
He Loved Her, And Would Love Her; And Defy Her, And This Miserable Bodily Pain.
Pain
Miserable
Bodily Pain
Were All Men Equal To-night, Some Would Get The Start By Rising An Hour Earlier To-morrow.
Equality
Night
Men
But I Was Right. I Think That Must Be An Hereditary Quality, For My Father Says He Is Scarcely Ever Wrong.
Father
Thinking
Quality
She Thought In Would Be Awkward For Both To Be Brought Into Conscious Collision; And Fancied That, From Her Being On A Low Seat At First, And Now Standing Behind Her Father, He Had Overlooked Her In His Haste. As If He Did Not Feel The Consciousness Of Her Presence All Over, Though His Eyes Had Never Rested On Her!
Father
Eye
Awkward
But Margaret Was At An Age When Any Apprehension, Not Absolutely Based On A Knowledge Of Facts, Is Easily Banished For A Time By A Bright Sunny Day, Or Some Happy Outward Circumstance. And When The Brilliant Fourteen Fine Days Of October Came On, Her Cares Were All Blown Away As Lightly As Thistledown, And She Thought Of Nothing But The Glories Of The Forest.
Age
Care
Forests
He Could Not - Say Rather, He Would Not - Deny Himself The Chance Of The Pleasure Of Seeing Margaret. He Had No End In This But The Present Gratification.
Chance
Pleasure
Deny
If Mr. Thornton Was A Fool In The Morning, As He Assured Himself At Least Twenty Times He Was, He Did Not Grow Much Wiser In That Afternoon. All That He Gained In Return For His Sixpenny Omnibus Ride, Was A More Vivid Conviction That There Never Was, Never Could Be, Any One Like Margaret; That She Did Not Love Him And Never Would; But That She — No! Nor The Whole World — Should Never Hinder Him From Loving Her.
Morning
Twenties
Afternoon
He Shrank From Hearing Margaret's Very Name Mentioned; He, While He Blamed Her--while He Was Jealous Of Her--while He Renounced Her--he Loved Her Sorely, In Spite Of Himself.
Jealous
Names
Hearing
How Different Men Were To Women!
Men
Different
I Would Far Rather Have Two Or Three Lilies Of The Valley Gathered For Me By A Person I Like, Than The Most Expensive Bouquet That Could Be Bought!
Flower
Two
Three
Similarity Of Opinion Is Not Always—i Think Not Often—needed For Fullness And Perfection Of Love.
Thinking
Perfection
Opinion
I Know You Despise Me; Allow Me To Say, It Is Because You Don't Understand Me.
Despise
Understand Me
Knows
Every Mile Was Redolent Of Associations, Which She Would Not Have Missed For The World, But Each Of Which Made Her Cry Upon 'the Days That Are No More' With Ineffable Longing.
World
Association
Cry
Oh, Mr. Thornton, I Am Not Good Enough!' 'not Good Enough! Don't Mock My Own Deep Feeling Of Unworthiness.
Not Good Enough
Feelings
Deep Feeling
I Don't Believe There's A Man In Milton Who Knows How To Sit Still; And It Is A Great Art.
Art
Believe
Men
For All His Pain, He Longed To See The Author Of It. Although He Hated Margaret At Times, When He Thought Of That Gentle Familiar Attitude And All The Attendant Circumstances, He Had A Restless Desire To Renew Her Picture In His Mind - A Longing For The Very Atmosphere She Breathed. He Was In The Charybdis Of Passion, And Must Perforce Circle And Circle Ever Nearer Round The Fatal Centre.
Pain
Attitude
Passion
I'll Not Listen To Reason... Reason Always Means What Someone Else Has Got To Say.
Inspirational
Women
Memorable
Yet It Was Very Difficult To Separate Her Interpretation, And Keep It Distinct From His Meaning.
Interpretation
Difficult
Wearily She Went To Bed, Wearily She Arose In Four Or Five Hours' Time. But With The Morning Came Hope, And A Brighter View Of Things.
Morning
Views
Bed
And So She Shuddered Away From The Threat Of His Enduring Love. What Did He Mean? Had She Not The Power To Daunt Him? She Would See. It Was More Daring Than Became A Man To Threaten Her.
Mean
Men
Enduring Love
..still To Have Loved Her Without Return Would Have Lifted You Higher Than All Those, Be They Who They May, That Have Ever Known Her To Love.
May
Return
Higher
Those Who Are Happy And Successful Themselves Are Too Apt To Make Light Of The Misfortunes Of Others.
Successful
Light
Misfortunes Of Others
I Look At [books] As A Child Looks At Cakes - With Glittering Eyes And A Watering Mouth, Imagining The Pleasure That Awaits Him.
Children
Book
Eye
Take Care. -if You Do Not Speak- I Shall Claim You As My Own In Some Presumptuous Way. -send Me Away At Once, If I Must Go; -margaret!-
Care
Way
Speak
He Is My First Olive: Let Me Make A Face While I Swallow It.
Olives
Faces
Firsts
I Say Gibson, We're Old Friends, And You're A Fool If You Take Anything I Say As An Offense. Madam Your Wife And I Didn't Hit It Off The Only Time I Ever Saw Her. I Won't Say She Was Silly, But I Think One Of Us Was Silly, And It Wasn't Me!
Silly
Thinking
Wife
It Seemed As Though He Gave Way All At Once; He Was So Languid That He Could Not Control His Thoughts; They Would Wander To Her; They Would Bring Back The Scene,- Not Of His Repulse And Rejection The Day Before But The Looks, The Actions Of The Day Before That. He Went Along The Crowded Streets Mechanically, Winding In And Out Among The People, But Never Seeing Them, -almost Sick With Longing For That One Half-hour-that One Brief Space Of Time When She Clung To Him, And Her Heart Beat Against His-to Come Once Again.
Heart
Space
People
Sometimes One Likes Foolish People For Their Folly, Better Than Wise People For Their Wisdom.
Wise
Wisdom
Stupid
That Kind Of Patriotism Which Consists In Hating All Other Nations.
Hate
Patriotism
Kind
A Man Is So In The Way In The House.
Women
Men
House
A Little Credulity Helps One On Through Life Very Smoothly.
Women
Literature
Littles
Only You're Right In Saying She's Too Good An Opinion Of Herself To Think Of You. The Saucy Jade! I Should Like To Know Where She'd Find A Better!
Thinking
Jade
Opinion
But With The Increase Of Serious And Just Ground Of Complaint, A New Kind Of Patience Had Sprung Up In Her Mother's Mind. She Was Gentle And Quiet In Intense Bodily Suffering, Almost In Proportion As She Had Been Restless And Depressed When There Had Been No Real Cause For Grief.
Mother
Real
Grief
I Am The Mother That Bore You, And Your Sorrow Is My Agony; And If You Don't Hate Her, I Do' Then, Mother, You Make Me Love Her More. She Is Unjustly Treated By You, And I Must Make The Balance Even.
Mother
Hate
Agony
How Am I To Dress Up In My Finery, And Go Off And Away To Smart Parties, After The Sorrow I Have Seen Today?
Smart
Party
Sorrow
In All Disappointments Sympathy Is A Great Balm.
Sympathy
Disappointment
Margaret The Churchwoman, Her Father The Dissenter, Higgins The Infidel, Knelt Down Together. It Did Them No Harm.
Father
Together
Harm
I Do Not Look On Self-indulgent, Sensual People As Worthy Of My Hatred; I Simply Look Upon Them With Contempt For Their Poorness Of Character.
Character
Self
People
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