While writing “A Glimmer of Light” (now available) I had fun with famous – and not so famous – quotations for my chapter subheadings.
For the English literati, gurus, fans, readers, poets and writers out there, here are 25 of those quotations.
Give yourself one point for every quotation whose author you can identify without running to Google.
Beware, this is HARD.
Four points is good. Anything above is hugely impressive. Let me know how you did. The challenge winner gets bragging rights.
1. “I am giving an account of what was, not of what ought or ought not to be.”
2. “Remember tonight … for it is the beginning of always”
3. “There is but a plank between a sailor and eternity.”
4. “Nothing can be gained by extensive study and wide reading. Give them up immediately.”
5. “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley”
6. “In vain may heroes fight and patriots rave if secret gold sap on from knave to knave”
7. “Sail and sail, with unshut eye, round the world for ever and aye”
8. “Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”
9. “Good company in a journey makes the way to seem the shorter.”
10. “There are three sorts of people: those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are at sea”
11. “Did you think the lion was sleeping because he didn’t roar?”
12. “All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.”
13. “Many commit the same crimes with a very different result. One bears a cross for his crime; another a crown.”
14. “Ring’d with the azure world, he stands. The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; he watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls.”
15. “When they were able to look once more, the Vision had vanished, and the air was full of the carol of birds that hailed the dawn.”
16. “Much have I seen and known – cities of men and manners, climates, councils, governments”
17. “The grave’s a fine and private place”
18. “… remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence … a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end.”
19. “And now there came both mist and snow, and it grew wondrous cold”
20. “Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.”
21. “What if, in your sleep, you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower? And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand?”
22. “We have been friends together, in sunshine and in shade.”
23. “Balance is the perfect state of still water … It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface.”
24. “Fare thee well, and if for ever, still for ever fare thee well.”
25. “The world shall find this miracle in me, that fire can burn when all matter’s spent.”
Leave your comments and your score below! Happy puzzling.
These ARE hard. Only 2 points. But some real gems there that I hadn’t known.
2 points is better than most
Was looking over Eva’s shoulder – I won’t say what I got – thought I’d do better though 🙁
Damn, thought I’d get more than 4 pts. Didn’t