Top quotes by Mary Shelley

And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. I have an affection for it, for it was the offspring of happy days, when death and grief were but words, which found no true echo in my heart. Votes: 17

Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. Votes: 13

I am very averse to bringing myself forward in print, but as my account will only appear as an appendage to a former production, and as it will be confined to such topics as have connection with my authorship alone, I can hardly accuse myself of a personal intrusion. Votes: 12

To bestow on your fellow men is a Godlike attribute--So indeed it is and as such not one fit for mortality;--the giver, like Adam and Prometheus, must pay the penalty of rising above his nature by being the martyr of his own excellence." Votes: 10

Like one who, on a lonely road, Doth walk in fear and dread, And, having once turned round, walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread. - Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner. Votes: 10

Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Votes: 9

The very winds whispered in soothing accents, and maternal Nature bade me weep no more. Votes: 7

I also became a poet, and for one year lived in a Paradise of my own creation; I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated. Votes: 7

I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures as no language can describe Votes: 4

Ah! it is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace. Votes: 4

Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to a mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on a rock." - Frankenstein p115 Votes: 4

I required kindness and sympathy, but I did not believe myself utterly unworthy of it. Votes: 4

There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only closer in bonds of devoted affection. Votes: 2

It maybe judged indecent in me to come forward on this occasion; but when I see a fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak, that I may say what I know of her character. Votes: 1

...we are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves - such a friend ought to be - do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures." Votes: 1

These are my enticements, and they are sufficent to conquer all fear and danger or death... with the induction of the joy of a child feels when embarks a little boat." Votes: 1

Alas! I regret that I am taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been, is it not hard to quit you all? But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavor to resign myself cheerfully to death, and will indulge a hope of meeting you in another world. Votes: 1

I'm a creature of fine sensations Votes: 1

I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive within me. Half surprised by the novelty of these sensations, I allowed myself to be borne away by them, and forgetting my solitude and deformity, dared to be happy. Votes: 1

When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. Votes: 1

Increase of knowledge only discovered to me more clearly what a wretched outcast I was. I cherished hope, it is true, but it vanished when I beheld my person reflected in water or my shadow in the moonshine, even as that frail image and that inconstant shade. Votes: 1

The cup of life was poisoned forever, and although the sun shone upon me, as upon the happy and gay of heart, I saw around me nothing but a dense and frightful darkness, penetrated by no light but the glimmer of two eyes that glared upon me. Votes: 1

I looked upon the sea, it was to be my grave Votes: 1

It may...be judged indecent in me to come forward on this occasion; but when I see a fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak, that I may say what I know of her character. Votes: 1

One as deformed and horrible as myself, could not deny herself to me. My companion must be of the same species, and have the same defects... with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being... Votes: 1

A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility. Votes: 1

The spirit of elder days found a dwelling here, and we delighted to trace its footsteps. Votes: 1

nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose Votes: 1

My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. Votes: 1

Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries. Votes: 1

My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings. Votes: 0

Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. Votes: 0

My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free. Votes: 0

But I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit what I shall soon cease to be - a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to others and intolerable to myself. Votes: 0

A slavish bondage to parents cramps every faculty of the mind. Votes: 0

Life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated. Votes: 0

The agony of my feelings allowed me no respite; no incident occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its food. Votes: 0

Elegance is inferior to virtue. Votes: 0

What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow. Votes: 0

A king is always a king - and a woman always a woman: his authority and her sex ever stand between them and rational converse. Votes: 0

It is hardly surprising that women concentrate on the way they look instead of what is in their minds since not much has been put in their minds to begin with. Votes: 0