(Notable Quotables is a meme brought to you by the Bewitched Bookworms. Every Monday you’re invited to share a favorite quote or two from the books you’ve been reading.)
Today’s quotes are a bit of a mash-up, so there’s no real theme. The first quote is attributed to Thomas V. Bartholin:
“Without books, God is silent, justice is dormant, natural science at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb, and all things involved in darkness.”
The second quote is from one of my favorite books, Jane Eyre. The speaker is Helen Burns, Jane’s first friend and fellow student at Lowood School. Helen is the first kind soul that Jane has come into contact with.
” ‘Hush, Jane! You think too much of the love of human beings; you are too impulsive, too vehement; the Sovereign hand that created your frame, and put life into it, has provided you with other resources than your feeble self, or than creatures feeble as you. Besides this earth, and besides the race of men, there is an invisible world and a kingdom of spirits; that world is round us, for it is everywhere; and those spirits watch us, for they are commissioned to guard us; and if we were dying in pain and shame, if scorn smote us on all sides, and hatred crushed us, angels see our tortures, recognize our innocence…and God waits only the separation of spirit from flesh to crown us with a full reward. Why, then, should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress, when life is so soon over, and death is so certain an entrance to happiness — to glory?’ “
I’ve got Jane Eyre on my list for the Gothic Reading Challenge, so it’ll be exciting to revisit that story.
What are you reading this week? Got any great quotes to share?
