“It is a long time,' repeated his wife; 'and when is it not a long time? Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.''It does not take a long time to strike a man with Lightning,' said Defarge.'How long,' demanded madame, composedly, 'does it take to make and store the lightning? Tell me?”

“Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.”

“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

“How long does a building stand before it falls?How long does a contract last? How long will brothersshare the inheritance before they quarrel?How long does hatred, for that matter, last?Time after time the river has risen and flooded.The insect leaves the cocoon to live but a minute.How long is the eye able to look at the sun?From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.”

“I see Barsad, and Cly, Defarge, The Vengeance, the Juryman, the Judge, long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old, perishing by this retributive instrument, before it shall cease out of its present use. I see a beautiful city and brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making explanation for itself and wearing it out. ”

“Better not to give in to it. It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”