Edward John Trelawny Quotes

Women are like parasitical plants, casting their wild tendrils from one tree to another, till, swollen into tough cordage, they strangle those they embrace, and luxuriate in their decay.

I am one whose faith is, that love and friendship, with ardent natures, are like those trees of the torrid zone which yield fruit but once, and then die.

A rusty bolt is the most difficult to withdraw; but once removed, though replaced, it will never hold securely.

In my youth I loved climbing and scrambling up rocks and mountains: now I seldom intrude on the dweller of a second story, and my greatest enemy or friend may avoid me altogether on the third; so humbled is the aspiring spirit of my youth.

Those that come to see me, do me honour; and those that stay away, do me a favour.

At last, giving me the boat's sail for a bed, he stretched himself out on the jagged rocks, and slept soundly as the unsanctified in a comfortable pew of a church;
I wish the benches were softer, and the cushions higher, as then more people might be tempted to take a nap; it is my only reason for never going.

Let me, however, although no verbal critic, protest against the profanation of the word friend. In this my history I must be honest, make a distinction between the oriental diamond and its worthless imitation of paste, and separate the grain from the chaff - gossamer words, that weigh nothing, from substantial realities heavier than gold.