He'd be sharper than a serpent's tooth, if he wasn't as dull as ditch water.

Charles Dickens

Our Mutual Friend

More information about this quote

Topic

Stupidity

Speaker

Fanny Cleaver

Author

Charles Dickens

Source

Our Mutual Friend

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Insult Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dickens, Charles. "Our Mutual Friend." All the Year Round. London: Chapman and Hall, May 1865, pt. 13, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Current Citation

Dickens, Charles. Our Mutual Friend, edited by Adrian Poole. Penguin, 1998, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Charles Dickens about stupidity: “He'd be sharper than a serpent's tooth, if he wasn't as dull as ditch…”
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A quote by Charles Dickens about stupidity: “He'd be sharper than a serpent's tooth, if he wasn't as dull as ditch…”
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A quote by Charles Dickens about stupidity: “He'd be sharper than a serpent's tooth, if he wasn't as dull as ditch…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1860s

Norman oughte be iuge in his owne cause.

Reginald Pecock

More information about this quote
Topic
Moral hazard

Author

Reginald Pecock
Source
The Repressor of Over Much Blaming of the Clergy
Language
English
Time
1860 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Pecock, Reginald. The Repressor of Over Much Blaming of the Clergy. Vol. 2, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860.

Current Citation

Pecock, Reginald. The Repressor of Over Much Blaming of the Clergy 2 Volume Set, edited by Churchill Babington. Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Another quote from 1865

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

Abraham Lincoln

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website
More information about this quote
Topic
American Civil War God's will Slavery American politics God and America
Speaker
Abraham Lincoln
Source
Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1865 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

Another quote of the following type Insult

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Animal House

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More information about this quote
Topic
Slovenliness
Speaker
Dean Vernon Wormer
Actor
John Vernon
Source
Animal House
Medium
Film
Genre
Comedy (film) Comedy
Statement Type
Advice Insult
Language
English
Time
1978 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Animal House. Directed by John Landis, Universal Pictures, 1978.