Ann Radcliffe Quotes

Ann Radcliffe's prose drifts through gloom, perfect for fans of setting, atmosphere and horror.

13 quotes

1. Fate sits on these dark battlements and frowns, And as the portal opens to receive me, A voice in hollow murmurs through the courts Tells of a nameless deed.

2. Wisdom can boast no higher attainment than happiness.

3. I ought not to doubt the steadiness of your affection. Yet such is the inconsistency of real love, that it is always awake to suspicion, however unreasonable; always requiring new assurances from the object of its interest, and thus it is, that i always feel revived, as by a new convinction, when your words tell me I am dear to you; and wanting these, I relapse into doubt and often into despondency.

4. How strange it is, that a fool or knave, with riches, should be treated with more respect by the world, than a good man, or a wise man in poverty!

5. I wish that all those, who on this night are not merry enough to speak before they think, may ever after be grave enough to think before they speak!

6. Virtue and taste are nearly the same, for virtue is little more than active taste, and the most delicate affections of each combine in real love.

7. What are riches - grandeur - health itself, to the luxury of a pure conscience, the health of the soul; - and what the sufferings of poverty, disappointment, despair - to the anguish of an afflicted one!

8. Do you believe your heart to be, indeed, so hardened, that you can look without emotion on the suffering, to which you would condemn me?

9. If the weak hand, that has recorded this tale, has, by its scenes, beguiled the mourner of one hour of sorrow, or, by its moral, taught him to sustain it - the effort, however humble, has not been vain, nor is the writer unrewarded.

10. What is acquired without labor is seldom worth acquiring at all.

11. To discover depravity in those whom we have loved, is one of the most exquisite tortures to a virtuous mind, and the conviction is often rejected before it is finally admitted.

12. Happiness arises in a state of peace, not of tumult.

13. There is some magic in wealth, which can thus make persons pay their court to it, when it does not even benefit themselves.