If a secret history of books could be written, and the author’s private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader!
Meaning of the quote
If we could know the private thoughts and real meanings behind the books we read, many boring books would suddenly become very interesting, and even dull stories would capture our attention! The author is suggesting that there is often more to a book than what is written on the page, and if we could access the writer's inner thoughts and true intentions, it would make the reading experience much more engaging.
About William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an acclaimed English novelist and illustrator known for his satirical works, especially the novel ‘Vanity Fair’ and ‘The Luck of Barry Lyndon’. Despite facing personal challenges, Thackeray rose to fame and is now considered one of the prominent authors of the Victorian era.
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Bravery never goes out of fashion.
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People hate as they love, unreasonably.
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Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.
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When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise.
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The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, familiar things new.
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Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.
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It is to the middle-class we must look for the safety of England.
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Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields, or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and you will succeed.
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‘Tis strange what a man may do, and a woman yet think him an angel.
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A clever, ugly man every now and then is successful with the ladies, but a handsome fool is irresistible.
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If a secret history of books could be written, and the author’s private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader!
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A good laugh is sunshine in the house.
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Despair is perfectly compatible with a good dinner, I promise you.
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It is impossible, in our condition of Society, not to be sometimes a Snob.
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When I walk with you I feel as if I had a flower in my buttonhole.
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Follow your honest convictions and be strong.
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Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
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It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.
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Do not be in a hurry to succeed. What would you have to live for afterwards? Better make the horizon your goal; it will always be ahead of you.
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Dinner was made for eating, not for talking.
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It is only hope which is real, and reality is a bitterness and a deceit.
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I would rather make my name than inherit it.
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There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
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The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.
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There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write.
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Except for the young or very happy, I can’t say I am sorry for anyone who dies.
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I never knew whether to pity or congratulate a man on coming to his senses.
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What money is better bestowed than that of a schoolboy’s tip? How the kindness is recalled by the recipient in after days! It blesses him that gives and him that takes.
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An evil person is like a dirty window, they never let the light shine through.
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Kindnesses are easily forgotten; but injuries! what worthy man does not keep those in mind?
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The book of female logic is blotted all over with tears, and Justice in their courts is forever in a passion.
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Next to the young, I suppose the very old are the most selfish.
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To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best.
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Remember, it’s as easy to marry a rich woman as a poor woman.
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People who do not know how to laugh are always pompous and self-conceited.
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