They spoke very little of their mutual feelings: pretty…

“He grew away from old associations, and saw something new in life and humanity. Secondarily, he made close acquaintance with phenomena which he had…

— Thomas Hardy

“She was in a sound sleep, Jude, dying of anxiety lest she should have caught a chill which might permanently injure her, was glad…

— Thomas Hardy

Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…

— Thomas Hardy

You ride well, but you don't kiss nicely at all.

— Thomas Hardy

You could sometimes see her twelfth year in her cheeks, or her ninth sparkling from her eyes; and even her fifth would flit over…

— Thomas Hardy

“It was mid-May time, bringing with it weather not, perhaps, quite so blooming as that assumed to be natural to the month by the…

— Thomas Hardy

If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone.

— Thomas Hardy

Some folk want their luck buttered.

— Thomas Hardy

Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length.

— Thomas Hardy

“I was court-martialed in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.”

— Thomas Hardy

“It being the first time in his life that he had touched female fingers under water, Dick duly registered the sensation as rather a…

— Thomas Hardy

“As soon as she could discern the outline of the house, it had all its old effect upon Tess's imagination. Part of her body…

— Thomas Hardy

The perfect woman, you see [is] a working-woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who [uses] her hands and her head…

— Thomas Hardy

“The Sinister Spirit sneered: 'It had to be!' And again the Spirit of Pity whispered, 'Why?”

— Thomas Hardy

“Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.”

— Thomas Hardy