Elizabeth Gaskell

“I may be the Cinderella to put on the slipper after all.' Margaret”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

Those who are happy and successful themselves are too apt to make light of the misfortunes of others.

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“She must just submit, like many another, to be misunderstood;”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I won't say she was silly, but I think one of us was silly, and it wasn't me.

— Elizabeth Gaskell

Did I ever say an engagement was an elephant, madam?

— Elizabeth Gaskell

It is bad to believe you in error. It would be infinitely worse to have known you a hypocrite.

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“No one knows till they have tried, what power of bearing lies in them.”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I would not trust a mouse to a woman if a man's judgment could be had.

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“Mother's love is given by God, John. It holds fast for ever and ever. A girl's love is like a puff of…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

..still to have loved her without return would have lifted you higher than all those, be they who they may, that have…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“... Correspondence, which bears much the same relation to personal intercourse that the books of dried plats I sometimes see do to…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I do not look on self-indulgent, sensual people as worthy of my hatred; I simply look upon them with contempt for their…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“Errands of mercy--errands of sin--did you ever think where all the thousands of people you daily meet are bound?”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“It is always the savage lads, with their love of excitement, who head the riot - reckless to what bloodshed it may…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“I always said a good despotism was the best form of government; and I am twice as much in favour of it…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“People admire talent, and talk about their admiration. But they value common sense without talking about it, and often without knowing it.”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“Meanwhile, the younger Mr. Carson had ended his review, and began to listen to what was going on. He finished his breakfast,…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I value my own independence so highly that I can fancy no degradation greater than that of having another man perpetually directing…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“Daniel was very like a child in all the parts of his character. He was strongly affected by whatever was present, and…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“If she could have anticipated them, how she would have shrunk away and hid herself from the coming time! And yet day…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

The question always is, has everything been done to make the sufferings of these exceptions as small as possible? Or, in the…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“but the whispered tone had latterly become more drowsy; and Margaret, after a pause of a few minutes, found, as she fancied,…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

He could remember all about it now; the pitiful figure he must have cut; the absurd way in which he had gone…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

He almost said to himself that he did not like her, before their conversation ended; he tried so hard to compensate himself…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“The world is not everything Ruth. Nor is the want of men’s good opinion and esteem the highest need which man has.…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“Ay, I know she’s asked for credit at several places, saying her husband laid hands on every farthing he could get for…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

How was it that he haunted her imagination so persistently? What could it be? Why did she care for what he thought,…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“I do not want to be relieved from any obligation,' said he, goaded by her calm manner. 'Fancied, or not fancied -…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“I choose to believe that I owe my very life to you--ay--smile, and think it an exaggeration if you will. I believe…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“Large houses are still occupied, while spinners’ and weavers’ cottages stand empty, because the families that once filled them are obliged to…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“For we have every one of us felt how a very few minutes of the months and years called life, will sometimes…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“A man leads a dree life who's not i' th' Union. But once i' the' Union, his interests are taken care on…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I’m not saying she was very silly, but one of us was very silly and it wasn’t me.

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I dare say there's many a woman makes as sad a mistake as I have done, and only finds it out too…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“The meanest thing to which we bid adieu, Loses its meanness in the parting hour.”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“He thought that he disliked seeing one who had mortified him so keenly; but he was mistaken. It was a stinging pleasure…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

I do try to say, God’s will be done, sir,” said the Squire, looking up at Mr. Gibson for the first time,…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“...at that time of all times for yearning and longing, just before the sharp senses lose their outlines in sleep.”

— Elizabeth Gaskell

“As far as one knows of heroines from history. I'm capable of a great jerk, an effort, and then a relaxation—but steady…

— Elizabeth Gaskell

Really it is very wholesome exercise, this trying to make one's words represent one's thoughts, instead of merely looking to their effect…

— Elizabeth Gaskell