Quotes from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

pursued him; and for many months this has been my task.

I was often tempted, when all was at peace around me, and I the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavenly - if I except some bat, or the frogs, whose harsh and interrupted croaking was heard only when I approached the shore - often, I say, I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever.

What was I? The question again recurred, to be answered only with groans.

These reflections determined me, and I resolved to remain silent.

Sometimes the peasants, scared by this horrid apparition, informed me of his path; sometimes he himself, who feared that if I lost all trace I should despair and die, often left some mark to guide me.

In an evil hour I subscribed to a lie, and now only am I truly miserable

My life might have been passed in ease and luxury; but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path.

Alas! why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows, and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us.

I was cursed by some devil, and carried about with me my eternal hell; yet still a spirit of good followed and directed my steps, and

and once his words had even power over my heart;

Remember that am they creature, I ought to be thy Adam, but am rather the fallen Angel.

followed, when I could, the courses of the rivers; but the dæmon generally avoided these, as it was here that the population of the country chiefly collected

During the day I was sustained and inspirited by the hope of night: for in sleep I saw my friends, my wife, and my beloved country; again I saw the benevolent countenance of my father, heard the silver tones of my Elizabeth's voice, and beheld Clerval enjoying health and

Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.

Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded.

Quién puede concebir los horrores de mi encubierta tarea, hurgando en la húmeda oscuridad de las tumbas o atormentando a algún animal vivo para intentar animar el barro inerte? Ahora me tiemblan los miembros con sólo recordarlo; entonces me espoleaba un impulso irresistible y casi frenético.

Darkness had no effect upon my fancy; and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm.

He is eloquent and persuasive; and once his words had even power over my heart: but trust him not. His soul is as hellish as his form, full of treachery and fiend-like malice. Hear

I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I had been, have made me what I am.

the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds, which hardly any later friend can

the routine of education in the schools of

We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile: a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge, and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress of the traveller with our telescopes, until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice.

When one creature is murdered, another is immediately deprived of life in a slow torturing manner; then the executioners, their hands yet reeking with the blood of innocence, believe that they have done a great deed. They call this retribution. Hateful name! When that word is pronounced, I know greater and more horrid punishments are going to be inflicted than the gloomiest tyrant has ever invented to satiate his utmost revenge.

Follow me; I seek the everlasting ices of the north, where you will feel the misery of cold and frost, to which I am impassive.