Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.
No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.
There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only closer in bonds of devoted affection.
Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.
One as deformed and horrible as myself, could not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species, and have the same defects… with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being…
Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.
Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to a mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on a rock.” – Frankenstein p115
nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose
My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading.
A mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study.
The labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind.
In other studies you go as far as other have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder.
If your wish is to become really a man of science and not merely a petty experimentalist, I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy, including mathematics.
I felt convinced that however it might have been in former times, in the present stage of the world, no man’s faculties could be developed, no man’s moral principle be enlarged and liberal, without an extensive acquaintance with books.
My courage and my resolution is firm; but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits are often depressed.
the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.
It may…be judged indecent in me to come forward on this occasion; but when I see a fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak, that I may say what I know of her character.
My life, as it passes thus, was indeed hateful to me, and it was during sleep alone that I could taste joy. O blessed sleep!
I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation, but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.
Yes,” she thought, “nature is the refuge and home for women: they have no public career—no aim nor end beyond their domestic circle; but they can extend that, and make all the creations of nature their own, to foster and do good to.
Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.
For the first time she knew and loved the Spirit of good and beauty, an affinity to which affords the greatest bliss that our nature can receive.
You have not studied the histories of ancient times, and perhaps know not the life that breathes in them; a soul of beauty and wisdom which had penetrated my heart of hearts.
She saw and marked the revolutions that had been, and the present seemed to her only a point of rest, from which time was to renew his flight.
So much does suffering blunt even the coarsest sensations of men
Suddenly high song awakens me, and I leave all this tedious routine far, far distant; I listen, till all the world is changed, and the beautiful earth becomes more beautiful.
Surely once in a life God will grant the earnest entreaty of a loving heart.
It is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace. The agonies of remorse poison the luxury there is otherwise sometimes found in indulging the excess of grief.
The agonies of remorse poison the luxury there is otherwise sometimes found in the excess of grief.
Those moral laws on which all human excellence is founded—a love of truth in ourselves, and a sincere sympathy with our fellow-creatures.
I required kindness and sympathy, but I did not believe myself utterly unworthy of it.
This advice, although good, was totally inapplicable to my case.
Strange and harrowing must be his story; frightful the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course, and wrecked it–thus!
There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.
The very winds whispered in soothing accents, and maternal Nature bade me weep no more.
There is love in me the likes of which you’ve never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape. If I am not satisfied int he one, I will indulge the other.
I, a miserable wretch, haunted by a curse that shut up every avenue to enjoyment.
Like one who, on a lonely road, Doth walk in fear and dread, And, having once turned round, walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread. – Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner.
I spoke of my desire of finding a friend, of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my lot, and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness who did not enjoy this blessing.
Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change. The sun might shine, or the clouds might lour: but nothing could appear to me as it had done the day before.
What is there in our nature that is for ever urging us on towards pain and misery?
What is the world, except that which we feel? Love, and hope, and delight, or sorrow and tears; these are our lives, our realities, to which we give the names of power, possession, misfortune, and death.
Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?
Solitude was my only consolation – deep, dark, deathlike solitude.
At these moments I took refuge in the most perfect solitude. I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds, and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless.
Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?
Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You are my creator, but I am your master;–obey!
Richard, marked for misery and defeat, acknowledged that power which sentiment possesses to exalt us—to convince us that our minds, endowed with a soaring, restless aspiration, can find no repose on earth except in love.
Ah! it is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace.
I also became a poet, and for one year lived in a Paradise of my own creation; I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated.
A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility.
Even where the affections are not strongly moved by any superior excellence the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.
Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose-a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.
I do not wish women to have power over men but over themselves.
Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose – a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.
My imagination, unbidden, possessed and guided me, gifting the successive images that arose in my mind with a vivdness far beyond the usual bounds of reverie….
I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.
I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature, should be completed.