1850s

Explore 262 quotes from the 1850s

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.

Henry David Thoreau

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Topic

Seasons Man and nature Being present

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Journals of Henry David Thoreau

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1853 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. Journal entry. 23 Aug. 1853.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. The Heart of Thoreau's Journals, edited by Odell Shepard. Dover Publications, 1961.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

Masters and slaves Slavery Democracy Equality

Author

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Journals of Abraham Lincoln

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1858 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Definition of Democracy." 1 Aug. 1858?

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "On Slavery and Democracy, 1858?" Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

Finality, Sir, is not the language of politics.

Benjamin Disraeli

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory Political progress Progress Politics

Speaker

Benjamin Disraeli

Source

Speeches of Benjamin Disraeli

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Disraeli, Benjamin. Speech about the Representation of the People. House of Commons. 28 Feb. 1859, The Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK.

A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor-such is my idea of happiness.

Leo Tolstoy

More information about this quote

Topic

Happiness Contentment The good life

Speaker

Sergey Mikhalych

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

Family Happiness

Language

Russian

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Семейное счастіе [Family Happiness]. The Russian Messenger, 1859.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Family Happiness, translated by J. D. Duff. Harper Perennial, 2009.

Thou hast no right to bliss.

Matthew Arnold

Empedocles on Etna

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Topic

Happiness

Author

Matthew Arnold

Source

Empedocles on Etna

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Arnold, Matthew, [published as A]. "Empedocles on Etna." Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. London: B. Fellowes, 1852, act 1, sc. 2.

Emma was like all his other mistresses; and as the charm of novelty gradually slipped from her like a piece of her clothing, he saw revealed in all its nakedness the eternal monotony of passion, which always assumes the same forms and always speaks the same language.

Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary

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Topic

New love Infatuation Fading love Love

Author

Gustave Flaubert

Source

Madame Bovary

Medium

Novel

Language

French

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary: Moeurs de Province [Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners]. Revue de Paris, 1 Oct. 1856 - 15 Dec. 1856. Serial.

Current Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary, edited and translated by Lydia Davis. Penguin Classics, 2011, pt. 2, ch. 12.

What other dungeon is so dark as one's own heart!
What jailer so inexorable as one's self!

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The House of Seven Gables

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Topic

Existential solitude Inner life Self-criticism

Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Source

The House of Seven Gables

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1851, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables, edited by Robert S. Levine. W. W. Norton & Company, 2020, ch. 11.

And long we try in vain to speak and act
Our hidden self, and what we say and do
Is eloquent, is well—but 'tis not true.

Matthew Arnold

The Buried Life

More information about this quote

Topic

Authenticity

Author

Matthew Arnold

Source

The Buried Life

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Arnold, Matthew, [published as A]. "The Buried Life." Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. London: B. Fellowes, 1852, l. 64.

Current Citation

Arnold, Matthew. "The Buried Life." Dover Beach and Other Poems. Dover Publications, 2012, I. 64.

What a heavy oar the pen is, and what a strong current ideas are to row in.

Gustave Flaubert

More information about this quote

Topic

Challenges of writing Writing

Author

Gustave Flaubert

Source

Letters of Gustave Flaubert

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Letter to Louise Colet. 23 Oct. 1851.

Current Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. The Letters of Gustave Flaubert 1830-1857, translated and edited by Francis Steegmuller. Faber and Faber, 1981.

Days decrease,
And autumn grows, autumn in everything.

Robert Browning

Andrea del Sarto

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Topic

Autumn Seasons

Author

Robert Browning

Source

Andrea del Sarto

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1855 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Browning, Robert. "Andrea del Sarto." Men and Women. London: Chapman and Hall, 1855, I. 44.

Current Citation

Browning, Robert. "Andrea del Sarto." Robert Browning: The Major Works, edited by Adam Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2009, I. 44.

Do not shorten the morning by getting up late; look upon it as the quintessence of life, as to a certain extent sacred.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Counsels and Maxims

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Topic

Mornings

Author

Arthur Schopenhauer

Source

Counsels and Maxims Parerga and Paralipomena

Language

German

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Schopenhauer, Arthur. "Aphorismen zu Lebensweisheit: Varanesen und Maximen [Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life: Counsels and Maxims]." Parerga und Paralipomena. Vol. 1, Berlin: Druck und Verlag von U. W. Haan, 1851.

Current Citation

Schopenhauer, Arthur. "Aphorisms on the wisdom of life." Parerga and Paralipomena, translated by Sabine Roehr and Christopher Janaway. Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2016.

I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!-and if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

More information about this quote

Topic

Being in love Love

Author

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Source

Sonnets from the Portuguese

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Statement Type

Profession of love

Language

English

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. Sonnets from the Portuguese. London: Chapman and Hall, 1850, sonnet 43.

Current Citation

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. "Sonnets from the Portuguese." Aurora Leigh and Other Poems, edited by John Robert Glorney Bolton and Julia Bolton Holloway. Penguin Classics, 1996, sonnet 43.

Wealth is like sea-water; the more we have, the thirstier we become, and the same is true of fame.

Arthur Schopenhauer

More information about this quote

Topic

Greed Wealth Fame

Author

Arthur Schopenhauer

Language

German

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Schopenhauer, Arthur. "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life: What a Man Has." Parerga und Paralipomena. Vol. 1, Berlin: Druck und Verlag von U. W. Haan, 1851.

Current Citation

Schopenhauer, Arthur. "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life." Parerga and Paralipomena, translated by Sabine Roehr and Christopher Janaway. Vol. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2016.

It is splendid to be a great writer, to put men into the frying pan of your words and make them pop like chestnuts.

Gustave Flaubert

More information about this quote

Topic

Pleasures of writing Writing

Author

Gustave Flaubert

Source

Letters of Gustave Flaubert

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

French

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. Letter to Louise Colet. 3 Nov. 1851.

Current Citation

Flaubert, Gustave. The Letters of Gustave Flaubert 1830-1857, translated and edited by Francis Steegmuller. Faber and Faber, 1981.

You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

More information about this quote

Topic

Business competition Business Capitalism

Author

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

Threat

Language

English

Time

1853 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Vanderbilt, Cornelius. Letter to Charles Morgan and C. K. Garrison. c. 1853.

For say a foolish thing enough…
... The same thing
Shall pass at last for absolutely wise,
And not with fools exclusively.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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More information about this quote

Topic

Disinformation Foolishness Fools

Author

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Source

Aurora Leigh

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. Aurora Leigh. London: Chapman & Hall, 1857, bk. 6.

Current Citation

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett. Aurora Leigh. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 6.

I expect that Woman will be the last thing civilized by Man.

George Meredith

More information about this quote

Topic

Gender relations Women Men and women

Speaker

Sir Austin Feverel

Author

George Meredith

Source

The Ordeal of Richard Feverel

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Meredith, George. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel: A History of Father and Son. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859, ch. 1.

Despots themselves do not deny that freedom is excellent; only they desire it for themselves alone, and they maintain that everyone else is altogether unworthy of it.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

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Topic

Freedom Political hypocrisy Tyranny

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

Genre

Historical literature Political literature

Language

French

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution [The Ancien Régime and the Revolution]. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856, foreward.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. The Ancien Regime and the Revolution, translated by Gerald Bevan. Penguin Classics, 2008, foreward.

I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.

Margaret Fuller

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Topic

Arrogance Intelligence

Author

Margaret Fuller

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Statement Type

Boast

Language

English

Time

1850 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fuller, Margaret. Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli. Vol. 1, Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1852, pt. 4.

It is not always by going from bad to worse that a society falls into revolution... The social order destroyed by a revolution is almost always better than that which immediately preceded it, and experience shows that the most dangerous moment for a bad government is generally that in which it sets about reform.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

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Topic

Conditions for revolution

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

Genre

Historical literature Political literature

Language

French

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution [The Ancien Régime and the Revolution]. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. The Ancien Regime and the Revolution, translated by Gerald Bevan. Penguin Classics, 2008, bk. 3, ch. 4.