Quotes from Mary Shelley

Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind, when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling; but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death- a state I feared yet did not understand.

Kita terlelap, namun tidur kita teracuni mimpi. Kita terjaga, tapi angan mencemari. Kita merasa, berpikir, atau menimbang; menangis atau tertawa, mendekap derita atau menghalau nestapa; semua sama belaka; sebab suka maupun duka, dapat sewaktu-waktu pergi. Kemarin takkan seperti esok hari; tiada satu pun yang lestari!

I was the slave, not the master, of an impulse, which I detested, yet could not disobey.

All that he said threw greatly into the shade Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus, the lords of my imagination; but by some fatality the overthrow of these men disinclined me to pursue my accustomed studies. It

Imparate da me, se non dai miei precetti, almeno dal mio esempio, quanto sia pericolosa l'acquisizione della conoscenza, e quanto sia più felice quell'uomo che ha per mondo la sua città natale, di colui che aspira a una grandezza maggiore di quella che la sua natura gli concede.

But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was no a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing.

when falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of happiness?

Success shall crown my endeavors. Wherefore not? Thus far I have gone, tracing a secure way over the pathless seas, the very stars themselves being witnesses and testimonies of my triumph. Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?

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.

Non v'è nulla di più doloroso per l'animo umano di quella calma mortale che segue alla grande agitazione di sensazioni e sentimenti provocata da una rapida successione di eventi, quel misto d'impotenza e rassegnazione che si produce quando al cuore mancano sia la speranza che il timore.

What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them.

when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion, which afterwards ruled my destiny, I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.

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.

I'm not surprised at your greeting. I expected it, he said calmly. After all, everyone hates creatures as ugly as I am. But it's your fault that I'm this ugly. You created me this way.

Si el estudio al que nos dedicamos tiende a debilitar nuestros afectos y a destruir nuestro gusto por los placeres sencillos en los que no puede haber mezcla ninguna, entonces ese estudio es indefectiblemente malo y en modo alguno conveniente para la mente humana.

But in truth, neither the lonely meditations of the hermit, nor the tumultuous raptures of the reveller, are capable of satisfying man's heart. From the one we gather unquiet speculation, from the other satiety. The mind flags beneath the weight of thought, and droops in the heartless intercourse of those whose sole aim is amusement. There is no fruition in their vacant kindness, and sharp rocks lurk beneath the smiling ripples of these shallow waters.

but I believed myself totally unfitted for the company of strangers. Such were my reflections as I commenced my journey; but as I proceeded, my spirits and hopes rose.

Still, it haunted me.

But they became every day more ardent and tender. It was a passion that had frown with his growth...

the stars often disappeared in the light of the morning

She seemed, poor woman, to imagine that the French and the Martians might prove very similar.

Oh expectation, what a frightful thing art thou, when kindled more by fear than hope!

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.

Si la mentira se parece tanto a la verdad, ¿quién puede creer en la felicidad?