“Dickens writes that an event, "began to be forgotten, as most affairs are, when wonder, having no fresh food to support it, dies away of itself.”

“Dickens writes that one of his characters, "listened to everything without seeming to, which showed he understood his business.”

“It is wonderful how Virtue turns from dirty stockings; and how Vice, married to ribbons and a little gay attire, changes her name, as wedded ladies do, and becomes Romance." ---From Charles Dickens' Preface to Oliver Twist, printed in 1841”

“It is no small thing, when they, who are so fresh from God, love us. ”

“And it is not a slight thing when we are loved by those so fresh from God.”

“Be natural my children. For the writer that is natural has fulfilled all the rules of art."(Last words, according to Dickens's obituary in The Times.)”

“I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.”