Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collinswas an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, and The Moonstone. The last is considered the first modern English detective novel...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth8 January 1824
book civilization difference english fiction future good lies literary millions pale public reading rest taught three true unknown waiting
The future of English fiction may rest with this Unknown Public -- a reading public of three millions which lies right out of the pale of true literary civilization -- which is now waiting to be taught the difference between a good book and a bad.
lying book reading
The future of English fiction may rest with this Unknown Public - a reading public of three millions which lies right out of the pale of true literary civilization - which is now waiting to be taught the difference between a good book and a bad.
dream book reading
I roused myself from the book which I was dreaming over rather than reading, and left my chambers to meet the cool night air in the suburbs.
reading writing years
The dull people decided years and years ago, as everyone knows, that novel-writing was the lowest species of literary exertion, and that novel reading was a dangerous luxury and an utter waste of time.
benefit matters printed taken
It may not be amiss to add, for the benefit of incredulous readers, that all the 'improbable events' in the story are matters of fact, taken from the printed narrative.
believe english-novelist heart truths virtue
Well may your heart believe the truths I tell; 'Tis virtue makes the bliss, where'er we dwell.
english-novelist mind peace
Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind.
men evil should
The best men are not consistent in good-- why should the worst men be consistent in evil.
expression soul mystery
The mystery which underlies the beauty of women is never raised above the reach of all expression until it has claimed kindred with the deeper mystery in our own souls.
house mystery liquor
The horrid mystery hanging over us in this house gets into my head like liquor, and makes me wild.
men ruins unworthy
Men ruin themselves headlong for unworthy women.
age citizens world
I am a citizen of the world, and I have met, in my time, with so many different sorts of virtue, that I am puzzled, in my old age, to say which is the right sort and which is the wrong.
betrayal brotherhood doubt
Not the shadow of a doubt crossed my mind of the purpose for which the Count had left the theatre. His escape from us, that evening, was beyond all question the preliminary only to his escape from London. The mark of the Brotherhood was on his arm-I felt as certain of it as if he had shown me the brand; and the betrayal of the Brotherhood was on his conscience-I had seen it in his recognition of Pesca.
silly
It is one of my rules in life, never to notice what I don't understand.