Date: 1768

"I was never able to conquer any one single bad sensation in my heart so decisively, as by beating up as fast as I could for some kindly and gentle sensation, to fight it upon its own ground."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"He gave a deep sigh--I saw the iron enter into his soul--I burst into tear"

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"No man cares to have his virtues the sport of contingencies--or one man may be generous, as another man is puissant--'sed non, quo ad banc'--or be it as it may--for there is no regular reasoning upon the ebbs and flows of our humours; they may depend upon the same causes, for ought I know, which...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"My heart smote me the moment he shut the door."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"Psha! said I with an air of carelessness, three several times--but it would not do: every ungracious syllable I had utter'd, crouded back into my imagination."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"But there is no nation under heaven abounding with more variety of learning--where the sciences may be more fitly woo'd, or more surely won than here--where art is encouraged, and will so soon rise high--where Nature (take her all together) has so little to answer for--and, to close all, where t...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"I'm persuaded, to a man who feels for others as well as for himself, every rainy night, disguise it as you will, must cast a damp upon your spirits."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"And is all this to be lighted up in the heart for a beggarly account of three or four louisd'ors, which is the most I can be overreach'd in?"

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"Every dirty passion, and bad propensity in my nature, took the alarm, as I stated the proposition."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1768

"But 'tis a civil thing, said I--and as I generally act from the first impulse, and therefore seldom listen to these cabals, which serve no purpose, that I know of, but to encompass the heart with adamant--I turn'd instantly about to the lady."

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)