Are already 206 years since the 7 February in the 1812 Portsmouth see the light Charles Dickens, perhaps the most important XNUMXth century British novelist. Remains also one of the greatest writers of world literature. So it's always okay to celebrate your birthday by remembering those phrases and fragments that we have all read at some time.

Dickens (1812-1870) it was almost a character in his novels. Born into poverty had a troublesome parent and until the age of nine he could not start school. What's more, he worked in a factory also as a child and those experiences then focused his books on poverty, injustice and crime. He also fought to eliminate child labor and for the situation of women at that time.

Wrote 15 novels, 5 short novels and hundreds of short stories y articles journalistic. His style emphasizes the picaresque, linguistic creativity and satire, qualities with which Victorian society also portrayed. In his memory go this review of that work and words.

A Christmas Carol

«He looked older, he was already a man in the prime of life. His face did not yet show the rigid and cruel features of recent years, but the signs of greed and worry were already beginning to show. He had a fiery, greedy, uneasy look that betrayed the passion that had rooted in his eyes and towards which side the shadow of the tree that was already growing rosy would fall ».

History of two cities

«It was the best times, it was the worst times, the age of wisdom, the cycle of stupidity, the phase of belief, the stage of disbelief, the season of Light, the hour of Shadows, it was spring of hope, the winter of despair, we had everything ahead of us, there was nothing in front of us ».

Desolate house

"The cat has retreated to the door, and is growling; not to them, but to something on the floor in front of the fireplace. There is very little fire left, but there is thick, suffocating steam in the room, and a dark, greasy coating blackens the walls and ceiling. The old man's jacket and cap are hanging on a chair. The red cord that tied the letters is on the ground, but no paper can be seen, just a black mass and discarded on the ground.

Hard times

“It was a city of red brick, that is to say, of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ash had allowed it to; since it was not like that, the city had a strange red-black color, similar to that used by savages to smear their faces. It was a city of machines and tall chimneys, through which endless snakes of smoke came out that never quite uncoiled, despite coming and going without interruption ».

Big hopes

“That was memorable for me, because it made me change in a big way. But that is always the case in any life. Imagine that any day is segregated from it, and think about how different the course of that existence would have been. It is convenient for the reader to pause while reading this, and think for a moment about the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or of flowers, that would never have surrounded him except for the first link that was formed in a memorable day".

David Copperfield

"If someone had told me then that all this was a brilliant game played in the excitement of the moment to distract his spirit in a desire to prove his superiority and in order to conquer for one moment what he would abandon the next; I say that if someone had told me such a lie that night, I do not know what I would have been able to do to my indignation.

Some of his phrases

• No one who alleviates the ills of others is useless in this world.
• A loving heart is the truest wisdom.
• We forge the chains that we wear throughout our lives.
• We should never be ashamed of our tears.
• You appear in all the lines that I have read in my life.
• There are strings in the human heart that are better than never vibrate.
• Every traveler has a home, a home that he learns to love more during his travels.
• There is nothing in the world that is so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.
• Repentance is typical of those who comb gray hair.
• Family is not only those with whom we share blood, but also those for whom we would shed our blood.
• Never trust the appearance, but the evidence. There is no better rule.
• No regret can make up for missed opportunities in life.
• When a man bleeds inside, it is dangerous for him, but when he laughs inside, it is a harbinger of some evil for others.
• Hiding something from those I love is not in my nature. I cannot seal my lips where I have opened my heart.
• There is nothing as strong or sure during a crisis in life as the truth.
• There are books whose front and back covers are by far the best parts.