Absent Quote by Charles Dickens
“One thing about this face was very strange and startling. You could not look upon it in its most cheerful mood without feeling that it had some extraordinary capacity of expressing terror. It was not on the surface. It was in no one feature that it lingered. You could not take the eyes or mouth, or lines upon the cheek, and say, if this or that were otherwise, it would not be so. Yet there it always lurked-something for ever dimly seen, but ever there, and never absent for a moment.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, 1861
Describes an unsettling feeling that something terrifying lies beneath a cheerful exterior, beyond visible features.
In simple terms: Hidden dread behind a happy face.
Key Takeaway
Be aware of deeper emotions.
Themes
psychology
perception
anxiety
Mood
thoughtful
introspective
Type
literary
analytical
When to use this quote
- social interactions
- mental health assessment
- art criticism
Key Concepts
literature
human nature
Questions to Reflect On
- What underlying fears do you sense in others?
- How can you discern genuine distress?
A Different Perspective
Might overinterpret normal quirks.
