--- title: "6 Hester Prynne Quotes By Nathaniel Hawthorne" description: "6 Hester Prynne quotes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Plus more from Nathaniel Hawthorne and more Hester Prynne sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7b/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_old-times_the-vulgar-who-in-those-dreary-old-times_369860.jpg" --- > [“The vulgar, who, in those dreary old times, were always contributing a grotesque horror to what interested their imaginations, had a story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-vulgar-who-in-those-dreary-old-times-were-always-contributing-a/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7b/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_old-times_the-vulgar-who-in-those-dreary-old-times_369860.jpg) > [“Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/could-they-be-other-than-the-insidious-whispers-of-the-bad-angel-who/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59c/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_hester-prynne_could-they-be-other-than-the-insidious-w_604705.jpg) > [“A woman never overcomes these problems by any exercise of thought. They are not to be solved, or only in one way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/a-woman-never-overcomes-these-problems-by-any-exercise-of-thought/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/642/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_fitness_a-woman-never-overcomes-these-problems-b_2057325.jpg) > [“It was no wonder that they thus questioned one another’s actual and bodily existence, and even doubted of their own. So strangely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/it-was-no-wonder-that-they-thus-questioned-one-another-s-actual-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3a/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_fear_it-was-no-wonder-that-they-thus-question_2795602.jpg) > [“But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely estranged, but outlawed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/but-hester-prynne-with-a-mind-of-native-courage-and-activity-and-for/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_courage_but-hester-prynne-with-a-mind-of-native_2952446.jpg) > [“They were, doubtless, good men, just and sage. But, out of the whole human family, it would not have been easy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/they-were-doubtless-good-men-just-and-sage-but-out-of-the-whole-human/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_family_they-were-doubtless-good-men-just-and-sa_3207529.jpg) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hester-prynne/nathaniel-hawthorne/#itemlist", "name": "6 Hester Prynne Quotes By Nathaniel Hawthorne", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The vulgar, who, in those dreary old times, were always contributing a grotesque horror to what interested their imaginations, had a story about the scarlet letter which we might readily work up into a terrific legend. They averred, that the symbol was not mere scarlet cloth, tinged in an earthly dye-pot, but was red-hot with infernal fire, and could be seen glowing all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the night-time. 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Or,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/could-they-be-other-than-the-insidious-whispers-of-the-bad-angel-who/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59c/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_hester-prynne_could-they-be-other-than-the-insidious-w_604705.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59c/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_hester-prynne_could-they-be-other-than-the-insidious-w_604705.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59c/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_hester-prynne_could-they-be-other-than-the-insidious-w_604705.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the…” — Nathaniel Hawthorne", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A woman never overcomes these problems by any exercise of thought. They are not to be solved, or only in one way. If her heart chance to come uppermost, they vanish. Thus Hester Prynne, whose heart had lost its regular and healthy throb, wandered without a clue in the dark labyrinth of mind; now turned aside by an insurmountable precipice; now starting back from a deep chasm. There was wild and ghastly scenery all around her, and a home and comfort nowhere.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/a-woman-never-overcomes-these-problems-by-any-exercise-of-thought/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/642/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_fitness_a-woman-never-overcomes-these-problems-b_2057325.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/642/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_fitness_a-woman-never-overcomes-these-problems-b_2057325.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/642/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_fitness_a-woman-never-overcomes-these-problems-b_2057325.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A woman never overcomes these problems by any exercise of thought. 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The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. It was with fear, and tremulously, and, as it were, by a slow, reluctant necessity, that Arthur Dimmesdale put forth his hand, chill as death, and touched the chill hand of Hester Prynne. The grasp, cold as it was, took away what was the dreariest in the interview. 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She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness [...]”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/but-hester-prynne-with-a-mind-of-native-courage-and-activity-and-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_courage_but-hester-prynne-with-a-mind-of-native_2952446.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_courage_but-hester-prynne-with-a-mind-of-native_2952446.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fa/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_courage_but-hester-prynne-with-a-mind-of-native_2952446.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely…” — Nathaniel Hawthorne", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They were, doubtless, good men, just and sage. But, out of the whole human family, it would not have been easy to select the same number of wise and virtuous persons, who should be less capable of sitting in judgment on an erring woman's heart, and disentangling its mesh of good and evil, than the sages of rigid aspect towards whom Hester Prynne now turned her face.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathaniel Hawthorne" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/they-were-doubtless-good-men-just-and-sage-but-out-of-the-whole-human/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_family_they-were-doubtless-good-men-just-and-sa_3207529.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_family_they-were-doubtless-good-men-just-and-sa_3207529.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acb/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_family_they-were-doubtless-good-men-just-and-sa_3207529.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They were, doubtless, good men, just and sage. 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