Walter Scott Quotes

Pride and jealousy there was in his eye, for his life had been spent in asserting rights which were constantly liable to invasion; and the prompt, fiery, and resolute disposition of the man, had been kept constantly upon the alert by the circumstances of his situation.

so wondrous wild, the whole might seem
the scenery of a fairy dream

Like the dew on the mountain,
Like the foam on the river,
Like the bubble on the fountain,
Thou art gone, and forever!

And better had they ne'er been born,
Who read to doubt, or read to scorn.

Come one, come all! this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I.

It is a strong castle, and strongly guarded; but there is no impossibility to brave men.

...[G]old is their god, and for riches will they pawn their lives as well as their lands.

The wind breath'd soft as lover's sigh,
And, oft renew'd, seem'd oft to die, With breathless pause between,
O who, with speech of war and woes,
Would wish to break the soft repose Of such enchanting scene!

There is yet spirit in him, were it well directed- but, like the Greek fire, it burns whatever approaches it.

mercy to a criminal may be gross injustice to the community.

There are few men who do not look back in secret to some period of their youth, at which a sincere and early affection was repulsed, or betrayed, or became abortive through opposing circumstances. It is these little passages of secret history, which leave a tinge of romance in every bosom, scarce permitting us, even in the most busy or advanced period of life, to listen with total indifference to a tale of true love.

Hunger and fear are excellent casuists.

Cats are a mysterious kind of folk.

he acquired a more complete mastery of a spirit tamed by adversity, than his former experience had given him; and that he felt himself entitled to say firmly, though perhaps with a sigh, that the romance of his life was ended, and that its real history had now commenced. He was soon called upon to justify his pretensions to reason and philosophy.

Look to a gown of gold, and you will at least get a sleeve of it.