--- title: "1 Beast within Quotes By Peter Ackroyd" description: "1 Beast within quotes by Peter Ackroyd. Plus more from Peter Ackroyd and more Beast within sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c4/peter-ackroyd-2223_fire_i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he_2059777.jpg" --- > [“I have long been of the Opinion, says he, that the Fire was a vast Blessing and the Plague likewise; it gave us Occasion to understand the Secrets of Nature which otherwise might have overwhelm'd us. (I busied my self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he-that-the-fire-was-a-vast/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c4/peter-ackroyd-2223_fire_i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he_2059777.jpg) ## More by Peter Ackroyd > [If I did only one thing at a time I'd think I was wasting my time. If, for example, I only wrote novels I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/if-i-did-only-one-thing-at-a-time-i-d-think-i-was-wasting-my-time-if/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [I believe that the gods themselves are frightened of the world which they have fashioned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-believe-that-the-gods-themselves-are-frightened-of-the-world-which/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“A woman is a deep Ditch, said he, her House inclines to Death and her Paths unto the Devil”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/a-woman-is-a-deep-ditch-said-he-her-house-inclines-to-death-and-her/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [I don't know if I have a voice of my own. I don't see me being an important person with something to say. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-don-t-know-if-i-have-a-voice-of-my-own-i-don-t-see-me-being-an/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [The ordinary routines of life are never chronicled by the historian, but they make up almost the whole of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/the-ordinary-routines-of-life-are-never-chronicled-by-the-historian/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“I believe now that there can be no real sense of loss or seperation without the recognition of death; we were too young to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-believe-now-that-there-can-be-no-real-sense-of-loss-or-seperation/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [I don't find myself interesting as a person and the details I find boring, quite frankly. You could sum it up in a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-don-t-find-myself-interesting-as-a-person-and-the-details-i-find/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [Rioting has always been a London tradition. It has been since the early Middle Ages. There's hardly a spate of years that goes by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/rioting-has-always-been-a-london-tradition-it-has-been-since-the/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“absinthe removes the bitter taste of failure and grants me strange visions which are charming principally because they cannot be written down. Only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/absinthe-removes-the-bitter-taste-of-failure-and-grants-me-strange/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“Those in their snug Bed-chambers may call the Fears of Night meer Bugbears, but their Minds have not pierced into the Horror of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/those-in-their-snug-bed-chambers-may-call-the-fears-of-night-meer/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [In so far as I have any beliefs, I suppose I'm like that old Peggy Lee song, 'Is That All There Is?' I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/in-so-far-as-i-have-any-beliefs-i-suppose-i-m-like-that-old-peggy-lee/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [“dyer. (Looking at him scornfully) So that is why Wits swarm like Egypt's Frogs. If I were a Writer now, I would wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/dyer-looking-at-him-scornfully-so-that-is-why-wits-swarm-like-egypt-s/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [The embrace of present and past time, in which English antiquarianism becomes a form of alchemy, engenders a strange timelessness. It is as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/the-embrace-of-present-and-past-time-in-which-english-antiquarianism/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [In London, I've always lived within 10 miles of where I was born. You see, there is something called a spirit of place, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/in-london-i-ve-always-lived-within-10-miles-of-where-i-was-born-you/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [There is no humiliation worse than the consciousness of a wasted life. It stains the spirit, forestalls hope, and destroys any motive for action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/there-is-no-humiliation-worse-than-the-consciousness-of-a-wasted-life/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast-within/peter-ackroyd/#itemlist", "name": "1 Beast within Quotes By Peter Ackroyd", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have long been of the Opinion, says he, that the Fire was a vast Blessing and the Plague likewise; it gave us Occasion to understand the Secrets of Nature which otherwise might have overwhelm'd us. (I busied my self with the right Order of the Draughts, and said nothing.) With what Firmness of Mind, Sir Chris. went on, did the People see their City devoured, and I can still remember how after the Plague and the Fire the Chearfulnesse soon returned to them: Forgetfulnesse is the great Mystery of Time. I remember, I said as I took a Chair opposite to him, how the Mobb applauded the Flames. I remember how they sang and danced by the Corses during the Contagion: that was not Chearfulnesse but Phrenzy. And I remember, also, the Rage and the Dying - These were the Accidents of Fortune, Nick, from which we have learned so much in this Generation. It was said, sir, that the Plague and the Fire were no Accidents but Substance, that they were the Signes of the Beast withinne. And Sir Chris. laughed at this. At which point Nat put his Face in: Do you call, sirs? Would you care for a Dish of Tea or some Wine? Some Tea, some Tea, cried Sir Chris. for the Fire gives me a terrible Thirst. But no, no, he continued when Nat had left the Room, you cannot assign the Causes of Plague or Fire to Sin. It was the negligence of Men that provoked those Disasters and for Negligence there is a Cure; only Terrour is the Hindrance. Terrour, I said softly, is the Lodestone of our Art.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Ackroyd" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he-that-the-fire-was-a-vast/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c4/peter-ackroyd-2223_fire_i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he_2059777.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c4/peter-ackroyd-2223_fire_i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he_2059777.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c4/peter-ackroyd-2223_fire_i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he_2059777.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have long been of the Opinion, says he, that the Fire was a vast Blessing and the Plague likewise; it gave…” — Peter Ackroyd", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast-within/peter-ackroyd/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast-within/peter-ackroyd/", "name": "Beast within Quotes by Peter Ackroyd", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast-within/peter-ackroyd/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c4/peter-ackroyd-2223_fire_i-have-long-been-of-the-opinion-says-he_2059777.jpg" }, "description": "1 Beast within quotes by Peter Ackroyd. 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