“Death borders upon our birth and our cradle stands in the grave.”

“We made in those days tiny identical rooms inside our bodies which the men who uncover our graves will find in a thousand years shining and whole.”

“Nothing I do will make death disappearOr let your shudder or your knowledge go.See the world whole, and see it clearly then,A globe of dirt crusted with bones of men.If we walk, we walk on graves.- from "Shudder”

“Oh, must we dream our dreamsand have them, too?”

“And maybe that is where rhythm comes from, I think. Our earliest understanding of rhythm. The sound of our own breath, the beating of our own hearts.”

“We know how it ends practically before it starts. That's why stories appeal to us. They give us the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack.”

“Dickens's humanity and compassion made an extraordinary impact on Victorian England through his writings, which remain immensely popular. This bicentenary should help renew our commitment to improving the lot of the disadvantaged of our own day." - The Very Reverend Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster Abbey, on today’s 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth.”