And this from D'Arcy on Pride and Prejudice:-

 Mr. Darcy: Miss Elizabeth. I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you... I had to see you. I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. All these things I am willing to put aside and ask you to end my agony.

Classic.

Si Dieu n'existait pas Il faudrait l'inventer.

(Another apt quotation for this forum.)

 " We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish."

J.B. Priestley: "An Inspector Calls"

existentialtyke:

Following on from the Dickens thread I have been contemplating the vast array of wonderful extracts from literature that I find inspiring and incredible. I love the following exchange between Sir Thomas More and William Roper regarding the rule of law (partly taken from transcripts I believe):-

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

 

I love that.

 

 

That play is magnificent. I love More's words to Margaret in his letter to her on the eve of his execution:

'I never liked your manner toward me better than when you kissed me last, for I love when daughterly love and dear charity hath no leisure to look to worldly courtesy. Farewell my dear child and pray for me, and I shall for you and all your friends that we may merrily meet in heaven. I thank you for your great cost'