Ivanhoe Quotes

“For he that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“We are like the herb which flourisheth most when trampled upon”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“I have heard men talk about the blessings of freedom," he said to himself, "but I wish any wise man would teach me what use to make of it now that I have it.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Silence, maiden; thy tongue outruns thy discretion.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“I envy thee not thy faith, which is ever in thy mouth but never in thy heart nor in thy practice”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Chivalry!---why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection---the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant ---Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“I will tear this folly from my heart, though every fibre bleed as I rend it away!”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“In the name of God!" said Gurth, "how came they prisoners? and to whom?"
"Our master was too ready to fight," said the Jester, "and Athelstane was not ready enough, and no other person was ready at all.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“I have sought but a kindred spirit to share it, and I have found such in thee.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“I forgive you, Sir Knight," said Rowena, "as a Christian."

"That means," said Wamba, "that she does not forgive him at all.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Certainly," quoth Athelstane, "women are the least to be trusted of all animals, monks and abbots excepted.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“He that does good, having the unlimited power to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which he performs, but for the evil which he forbears.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“…having once seen him put forth his strength in battle, methinks I could know him again among a thousand warriors. He rushes into the fray as if he were summoned to a banquet. There is more than mere strength--there seems as if the whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to every blow which he deals upon his enemies. God assoilzie him of the sin of bloodshed! It is fearful, yet magnificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man can triumph over hundreds.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“And my father!-oh, my father! evil is it with his daughter, when his grey hairs are not remembered because of the golden locks of youth!”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“the worst evil which befalls our race is, that when we are wronged and plundered, all the world laughs around, and we are compelled to suppress our sense of injury, and to smile tamely, when we would revenge bravely.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“The lovers of the chase say that the hare feels more agony during the pursuit of the greyhounds, than when she is struggling in their fangs.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“A moment of peril is often also a moment of open-hearted kindness and affection. We are thrown off our guard by the general agitation of our feelings, and betray the intensity of those which, at more tranquil periods, our prudence at least conceals, if it cannot altogether suppress them.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Now, it is well known, that a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actual breach either of real good breeding or of good morals, than appear ignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Thou hast had thty day, old dame, but thy sun has long been set. Thou art now the very emblem of an old warhorse turned out on the barren heath; thou hast had thy paces in thy time, but now a broken amble is the best of them.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Rebecca! she who could prefer death to dishonor must have a proud and powerful soul!”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Thou and I are but the blind instruments of some irresistible fatality, that hurries us along, like ships driving before the storm, which are dashed against each other, and so perish”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Thy resolution may fluctuate on the wild and changeful billows of human opinion, but mine is anchored on the Rock of Ages.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Is death the last sleep? No, it is the last final awakening.”
― Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe: Titan Read Classics

“As he offered to advance, she exclaimed, "Remain where thou art, proud Templar, or at thy choice advance!--one foot nearer, and I plunge myself from the precipice; my body shall be crushed out of the very form of humanity upon the stones of that courtyard ere it become the victim of thy brutality!”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Thus do men throw on fate the issue of their own wild passions.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Revenge is a feast for the
gods!”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“... [T]he pure light of chivalry... distinguishes the noble from the base, the gentle knight from the churl and the savage;... rates our life far, far beneath the pitch of our honour, raises us victorious over pain, toil, and suffering, and teaches us to fear no evil but disgrace.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“...[T]o restrain [evil men] by their sense of humanity is the same as to stop a runaway horse with a bridle of silk thread.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“To augment their misery, a contagious disorder of a dangerous nature spread through the land; and, rendered more virulent by the uncleanness, the indifferent food, and the wretched lodging of the lower classes, swept off many whose fate the survivors were tempted to envy, as exempting them from the evils which were to come.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

“Meantime the clang of the bows and the shouts of the combatants mixed fearfully with the sound of the trumpets, and drowned the groans of those who fell, and lay rolling defenceless beneath the feet of the horses. The splendid armour of the combatants was now defaced with dust and blood, and gave way at every stroke of the sword and battle-axe. The gay plumage, shorn from the crests, drifted upon the breeze like snowflakes. All that was beautiful in the martial array had disappeared, and what was now visibke was only calculated to awaken terror or compassion.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe