Sample Sentence Analysis

Stylistic Devices and Expressive Means Drills

In the following sentences taken from original authentic literature

- find stylistic devices and/or expressive means of the language;

- name them;

- define the group to which the tropes belong (use all known classifications);

- define the degree of their originality (original/trite);

- define their other properties if any;

- speak on the effect they produce.

Dad says he has holes in his teeth big enough for a sparrow to raise a family. – Frank McCourt: Angela’s Ashes.

In this sentence the author has used the following tropes:

- Hyperbole (holes in his teeth big enough for a sparrow to raise a family), the exaggeration of the real size of holes in Dad’s teeth. It is a lexical SD in I. R. Galperin’s, V. A. Kukharenko’s and I.V. Arnold’s classifications, a figure of quantity in Yu. M. Skrebnev’s classification, or a rhetorical figure in American and British stylistics. As we have neither heard nor read such an exaggeration before, it is original (fresh/newly-created/poetic/genuine). This device is used to show that the holes in Dad’s teeth were really very big.

- Alliteration (h e h as h oles in h is), the repetition of consonant sound [h] in adjacent (the first three) and closely following (the last one) words. It is a phonetic SD in I. R. Galperin’s, a phono-graphical EM in V. A. Kukharenko’s, a unit of syntagmatic phonetics in Yu. M. Skrebnev’s, and a rhetorical figure in American and British classifications. Alliteration makes the sentence melodic.

The sentences for stylistic analysis were taken from the following books:

- Anderson, Steven. “Teacher”;

- Barstow, Stan. “The Search for Tommy Flynn”;

- Bates, Herbert Earnest. “How Vainly Men Themselves Amaze”;

- Binchy, Maeve. “Flat in Ringsend”;

- Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights;

- Browning, Robert. Poetry;

- Burns, Robert. “My Heart’s in the Highlands”;

- Byron, George Gordon Noel. Poetry;

- Carry, Joyce. “Period Piece”;

- Chrichton, Michael. A Case of Need;

- Clifton, Lucille. Poetry;

- Cole,Martina. Two Women;

- Connell, Richard. “The Most Dangerous Game”;

- Conrad, Joseph. Victory;

- Covey, Stephen R. Rider’s Digest. February, 1995: p.161;

- Doyle,Arthur Conan. The Lost World;

- Francis, Dick. Straight;

- Greene,Graham. The Quiet American;

- Hemingway,Ernest Miller. Farewell to Arms;

- Hughes, Langston. Poetry;

- Hurst, James. “Scarlet Ibis”;

- Jacobs, W. W. “The Monkey’s Paw”;

- Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mocking Bird;

- London,Jack. Martin Eden;

- Lutz, John. “Ride the Lightning”;

- Maugham, William Somerset. The Painted Veil;

- Pratt, Anna M. “A Pretty Game”;

- Rinehart, Mary Roberts. “The Lipstick”;

- Rossetti, Christina. Poetry;

- Sanson, William. “The Vertical Ladder”;

- Saroyan, William. “A Cocktail Party”;

- Stevenson, Robert Louis, “The Moon”;

- Stuart, Jessie. “Love”;

- Swindoll, Charles. Rider’s Digest. February, 1995: p.161;

- Upfield,Arthur. Madman’s Bend.

1 Finding a flat in Dublin, at a rent you could afford, was like finding gold in the gold rush. – M. Binchy

2 I hope it’s nice, I hope they like me, I hope it’s not expensive. – M. Binchy

3 Pauline was wearing a shirt of such blindingly bright colours that it hurt the eyes to look at it. – M. Binchy

4 It had been a room full of smoke and drink and music and people dancing and people talking about nothing. Now it was a room full of broken glass and overturned chairs and people shouting, trying to explain what had happened, and people trying to comfort others, or get their coats and leave. – M. Binchy

5 She was not unfriendly, she didn’t look annoyed, but she made no effort to introduce her friend. – M. Binchy

6 Her immediate reaction would be, come-home-at-once, what-are-you-doing-by-yourself-up-in-Dublin, everyone-knew-you-couldn’t-manage-by-yourself. – M. Binchy

7 She had thought that she was meant to be part of a friendly all-girls-together flat. – M. Binchy

8 The lead singer of the Great Gaels was tapping the microphone and testing it by saying, “a-one, a-two, a-three…” – M. Binchy

9 “It’sh a pleashure,” said the other man. – M. Binchy

10 She waited for ages but they didn’t come in. – M. Binchy

11 Yes, it was ridiculous, it was bloody silly. – M. Binchy

12 It’s bloody fantastic being grown up, she thought, as she switched off the light at nine o’clock. – M. Binchy

13 Leave her alone. She is worried. – M. Binchy

14 Lake Gladys – my own lake – lay like a sheet of quicksilver before me. – A. C. Doyle

15 The door banged close. – A. C. Doyle

16 Again the impulse to return swept over me. – A. C. Doyle

17 Two creatures … had come down to the drinking place, and were squatting at the edge of water, their long tongues like red ribbons shooting in and out as they lapped. – A. C. Doyle

18 Then, reassured by the absolute stillness and by the growing light, I took my courage in both hands and stole back along the path, which I had come. – A. C. Doyle,

19 The man-eatin’ Papuans had me once, but they are Chesterfields compared to this crowd. – A. C. Doyle

20 And again the foolish pride fought against that very word. – A. C. Doyle

21 After a little hesitation I screwed up my courage and continued upon my way. – A. C. Doyle

22 Suddenly it rained apes. – A. C. Doyle

23 He had the short body, the big shoulders, the round chest, no neck, a great ruddy beard, the tufted eyebrows, the “What do you want, damn you!” look about the eyes, and the whole catalogue. – A. C. Doyle

24 It was a strange clicking noise in the distance, not unlike castanets. – A. C. Doyle

25 The ape-men put two of them to death there and then – it was perfectly beastly. – A. C. Doyle

26 Four of the Indians jumped and the canes went through them like knitting needles through a pat of butter. – A. C. Doyle

27 His [Professor Summerlee’s] thin figure and long limbs struggled and fluttered like a chicken being dragged from a coop. – A. C. Doyle

28 He was begging, pleading, imploring for his comrade’s life. – A. C. Doyle

29 Challenger’s quick brain had grasped the situation. – A. C. Doyle

30 … Lord John covered our retreat, firing again and again as savage heads snarled at us out of the bushes. – A. C. Doyle

31 She smiled a wicked twelve–year–old’s smile. – J. Lutz

32 Nudger was sitting at the tiny table in Holly Ann’s kitchen. – J. Lutz

33 And you wanted the police to learn about not–his–right–name Len. – J. Lutz

34 “You can’t prove anything,” she said, still with the same frightening smile. – J. Lutz

35 The last thing Nudger heard as he left the trailer was the sound of the bottle clinking on the glass. – J. Lutz

36 She listened with dead eyes. – M. R. Rineheart

37 Fred watched me, his eyes red and tired. – M. R. Rineheart

38 Pride is a terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines – life and death. – J. Hurst

39 A thin opal-tinted mist formed before my eyes and little silvery bells tinkled in my ears. – A. C. Doyle

40 Dully and far off I heard the crack of a rifle. – A. C. Doyle

41 The great reptilian hearts, however, each as large as a cushion, still lay there, beating slowly and steadily. – A. C. Doyle

42 For a moment I had a vision of four adventurers floating like a string of sausages over the land that they had explored. – A. C. Doyle

43 It was the very voice of Maple White Land bidding us good-bye. – A. C. Doyle

44 You are awfully damned nice. – E. Hemingway

45 I loved to take her hair down and she sat on the bed and kept very still, …, and I would take out the pins and lay them on the sheet and it would be loose and I would watch her while she kept very still and take out the last two pins and it would all come down and she would drop her head and we would both be inside of it, and it was the feeling of inside a tent or be behind a falls. – E. Hemingway

46 I’ll love you in the rain, and in the snow, and in the hail and – what else is there? – E. Hemingway

47 That was awfully cheeky of you. – E. Hemingway

48 “Old baby,” he said. – E. Hemingway

49 I drank half the glass. – E. Hemingway

50 There were many Austrian guns in on that ridge but only a few fired. – E. Hemingway

51 “That was old fish–face’s room,” Piani said. – E. Hemingway

52 The pair of them [soldiers] were like two wild birds. – E. Hemingway

53 The elevator passed three floors with a click each time, then clicked and stopped. – E. Hemingway

54 “Hey!” he said. – E. Hemingway

55 I slept thrashing and swimming in a heavy–footed panic until I reached it. – E. Hemingway

56 Now if you aren’t with me I haven’t a thing in the world. – E. Hemingway

57 I was terrifically hungry. – E. Hemingway

58 Catherine looked at me all the time, her eyes happy. – E. Hemingway

59 It was awfully funny. – E. Hemingway

60 “There will be no unpleasantness with the police,” the first official assured me. – E. Hemingway

61 The electric train was there waiting, all the lights on. – E. Hemingway

62 He [child] looks like a skinned rabbit with a puckered-up old man’s face. – E. Hemingway

63 I shut my eyes and she was again the same as she used to be: she was the hiss of steam, the clink of a cup, she was a certain hour of the night and the promise of rest. – G. Greene

64 I put out my hand and touched her arm – their bones too were as fragile as a bird’s. – G. Greene

65 They [clothes] were in passage like a butterfly in a room. – G. Greene

66 The dice rattled on the tables where the French were playing. – G. Greene

67 Innocence is like a dumb leper, who has lost its bell. – G. Greene

68 It was the hour of rest in the immense courtyard, which lay open to the sky. – G. Greene

69 I had met Vigot several times at parties – I had noticed him because he appeared incongruously in love with his wife, who ignored him, a flashy and false blond. – G. Greene

70 The history of this small pastoral property was not uncommon. – A. Upfield

71 Meanwhile I’ll send all the hands out to locate your stepfather – that’s the men available. – A. Upfield

72 The hundred-year-old American clock, infinitely more reliable than the modern product, whirred and bonged the midnight hour. – A. Upfield

73 The night was as black as the ace of spades. – A. Upfield

74 The oncoming mail car was not unlike a laden black beetle. – A. Upfield

75 Your touch is like a butterfly: mine is as heavy as a carthorse. – A. Upfield

76 I would be inclined to agree with Vickory were it not impossible for Luch to take petrol to the utility in his pocket. – A. Upfield

77 Life is a journey, don’t you think? – A. Upfield

78 What kind of man was her husband? – Like a playful pup. – A. Upfield

79 … and in the background could he hear the soft gurgling of water and the barking of a distant fox. – A. Upfield

80 It’s my job to find out who removed William Lush from this world. – A. Upfield

81 I’m not ungrateful, but I cannot command your action. – A. Upfield

82 Mac Curdle sipped his whisky before venturing to ask. – A. Upfield

83 Under that muscled body of his he was a mass of quivering sensibilities. – J. London

84 At the slightest impact of the outside world upon his consciousness, his thoughts, sympathies and emotions leapt and played like lambent flame. – J. London

85 “Catherine, are you going somewhere this afternoon?” asked Heathcliff. “No-o, I don’t think so,” replied Catherine, looking quickly at me. – E. Brontë

86 For an eternal second he stood in the midst of a portrait gallery…. – J. London

87 He was moved deeply by appreciation of it, and his heart was melting with sympathetic tenderness. – J. London

88 I thanked her, not knowing exactly for what, and put down the receiver, taking the shock physically in lightheadedness and a constricted throat. – D. Francis

89 It wasn’t until I reached twenty-eight myself that after a long Christmas-a-birthday-card politeness we’d met unexpectedly on a railway platform and during the journey ahead had become friends. – D. Francis

90 “Look,” she said. “I didn’t realize… I mean, when I came in here and saw you stealing things… I thought you were stealing things… I didn’t notice the crutches. – D. Francis

91 My love for Edgar is like the leaves on the trees – I’m sure time will change it. But my love for Heathcliff is like the rocks in the ground not beautiful, but necessary and unchanging. – E. Brontë

92 “I’ve broken an ankle,” I said, apologetically. “It takes me all my time to cross the room.” – D. Francis

93 Depressed, I went back to his office and telephoned to his accountant and his bank. – D. Francis

94 To the insurance company, also, my brother’s death seemed scarcely a hiccup. – D. Francis

95 I didn’t say anything for a moment or two and he looked up fast, his eyes bright and quizzical. – D. Francis

96 “What’s the Wizard?” I asked. “The calculator. Baby computer. June says it does everything but boil eggs.” – D. Francis

97 There was a series of between-message clicks, then the same voice again, this time packed with anxiety. – D. Francis

98 He’d had a mind like a labyrinth. – D. Francis

99 … he had done it for simplicity when he was in a hurry, and he would have certainly changed it, given time. – D. Francis

100 They [letters] were fastened not with romantic ribbons but held together by a prosaic rubber band. – D. Francis

101 The springs shot out, flexible, shining, horrific. – D. Francis

102 The front doorbell rang, jarring and unexpected. – D. Francis

103 The boy must be a gypsy, he’s as dark as the devil! – E. Brontë

104 She’s a breath of fresh air for those stupid Lintons. – E. Brontë

105 How funny and black and cross you look. – E. Brontë

106 I spoke about him, not to him. – E. Brontë

107 Hindley only had room in his heart for two people, himself and his wife…– E. Brontë

108 He seemed to want people to dislike him. – E. Brontë

109 She … led the way into another large office where three of the others were already gathered, wide-eyed and rudderless. – D. Francis

110 We could hear the wind whistling down the chimney, and howling all around the house. – E. Brontë

111 Suddenly there was a terrible crash of thunder, and the branch of a tree fell on the roof. – E. Brontë

112 He wore a confident, intelligent expression on his face, and his manner was no longer rough. – E. Brontë

113 She could not take her eyes of Heathcliff. – E. Brontë

114 Hindley and his son Hareton seemed like lost sheep to me … – E. Brontë

115 Mr. Edgar looked at her in angry surprise. – E. Brontë

116 “Well, well!” replied Heathcliff, looking scornfully at Mr. Edgar’s small figure. – E. Brontë

117 You aren’t a man, you’re a mouse. – E. Brontë

118 … if Edgar is going to be mean and jealous, I’ll try to break both their hearts by breaking my own. – E. Brontë

119 I’ll die with cold faces around me! E. Brontë

120 We looked together into the icy darkness. – E. Brontë

121 “Catherine! Why –“ When he saw his wife’s face, he was so shocked that he stopped speaking and stared at her in horror. – E. Brontë

122 But those four miles were like an ocean, which I could not cross. – E. Brontë

123 Joseph will show you Heathcliff’s room, if you like. And – and – you’d better lock the bedroom door.” – E. Brontë

124 And Catherine has a heart as deep as mine! – E. Brontë

125 She’s just like an insect under my foot. – E. Brontë

126 It’s wicked of you to say that, Catherine. You know your words will burn for ever in my memory after you’ve left me. – E. Brontë

127 My poor master was in the depth of despair. – E. Brontë

128 He howled like a wild animal, and hit his forehead several times against a tree. – E. Brontë

129 I gave him my heart, and he destroyed it, so I can’t feel pity for him. – E. Brontë

130 This tiny child soon won his heart. – E. Brontë

131 “No!” said Joseph, banging the table with his hand. – E. Brontë

132 “God! What a beautiful creature!” laughed Heathcliff scornfully. “That’s worse than I expected.” – E. Brontë

133 I love him more than anyone else in the world, more than myself! – E. Brontë

134 Her father’s room had become her whole world. – E. Brontë

135 As she kissed me, her face felt as cold as ice. – E. Brontë

136 My Mama moved among the days like a dream walker in a field. – L. Clifton

137 What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? – L. Hughes

138 Jimmy was sorry to the heart but the feeling he had for Maureen was like a cancer, constantly eating away inside him. – M. Cole

139 He admired, respected, loved her. – M. Cole

140 And like music on the waters

Is thy sweet voice to me. – G.G. Byron

141 The wild tulip, at the end of its tube, blows

out its great red bell

Like a thin clear bubble of blood. – R. Browning

142 My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a watered shoot;

My heart is like an apple tree

Whose boughs are bent with thickest fruit. – Ch. Rossetti

143 As her mother let herself in with her key her heart stopped in her breast. – M. Cole

145 He’d hated hurting her but what could a man do? She was old news, like a newspaper read from cover to cover. Why keep it? – M. Cole

146 Stretching like a long-limbed cat, June looked at herself in the mirror. – M. Cole

147 She was a lovely little thing, plain as a pikestaff but with a huge heart that was crying out for a bit of affection. – M. Cole

148 She was kissing and hugging her mother for ages until Jane, laughing, said, “All right, Susan.” – M. Cole

149 Swallowing her natural aggression, she dropped her eyes and was quiet. – M. Cole

150 They were all amazed to see two fat tears fall from the old lady’s eyes. – M. Cole

151 Jane hugged her, afraid herself now she had seen fear in her husband’s mother. – M. Cole

152 Ivy had a face that could curdle milk at the best of times. – M. Cole

153 … and by the time they let him out she would be grown up and able to tall him where to go. – M. Cole

154 Susan was a bundle of nerves. – M. Cole

155 Joe turned in his seat and looked the old woman straight in the eye. – M. Cole

156 The slap on her cheek was like a gunshot in the quiet of the room. – M. Cole

157 She looked at Susan and her grin faded. – M. Cole

158 What are you thinking about, Mum? You got a face like a wet weekend in Brighton. – M. Cole

159 The fight started in earnest then. Mother and daughter were clawing like wildcats. – M. Cole

160 Ivy hung her head. – M. Cole

161 Susan looked at her and answered in a tiny dead voice. – M. Cole

162 The shame of it was inside her like a black cancer, eating her from inside. – M. Cole

163 Debbie’s eyes were like saucers as she looked at her father. – M. Cole

164 Her dismissive words were like a knife through his brain. – M. Cole

165 His sister’s boy was the apple of his eye. – M. Cole

166 She basked in the compliment. – M. Cole

167 For the first time in her life she felt like a million dollars. – M. Cole

168 My mouth feels like the bottom of a bird’s cage. – M. Cole

169 I wish they’d hurry up. I’m supposed to arrive late, not him. – M. Cole

170 Susan shook her head and walked away from him “SUSAN!” His voice was an entreaty. But Susan and Debbie carried on walking from the church and the guests followed them outside like sheep. – M. Cole

171 Ivy looked at her daughter-in-law in stunned silence. “You knew? You knew and didn’t do anything?” – M. Cole

172 A wasp was buzzing around. – M. Cole

173 Pete felt the fright in his chest. – M. Cole

174 She heard the clack, clack of her daughter’s shoes as Debbie walked along the balcony towards the front door. – M. Cole

175 Barry, realizing that she was a diamond, gave her piece and quiet and affection. – M. Cole

176 She stood in the garden and cried like a baby, big fat tears ran down her cheeks and made her make up run. – M. Cole

177 She only had to look into those big blue eyes and she melted. – M. Cole

178 Barry looked at her for a long moment and she felt the icy grip of fear around her heart. – M. Cole

179 “What’s he done now?” hissed her friend. – M. Cole

180 Fear lent his feet wings. – M. Cole

181 Doreen’s voice was shocked. – M. Cole

182 Peterson leaned in his chair and smiled at me, a very pleasant, let’s-not-get-all-excited smile. – M. Chrichton

183 He drank half a glass in a single gulp. – M. Chrichton

184 He saw his son beside the woman who had given birth to him. – W. Saroyan

185 “Don’t look down,” the blood whispered in his temples, “don’t look down for God’s sake, DON’T LOOK DOWN.” – W. Sanson

186 When he got into bed the sheets were like blankets of dry snow. – S. Anderson

187 After that, every afternoon, they drove down by the coast, through pine forests, to where at last, like a small central bite taken out of an amber quarter of melon, a little bay lay within a bay. – H. E. Bates

188 She [the snake] was now limber as a shoestring in the wind. – J. Stuart

189 She [the snake] quivered like a leaf in the lazy wind, then her riddled body lay perfectly still. – J. Stuart

190 He had come in the night, under the roof of stars, as the moon shed rays of light on the quivering clouds of green. – J. Stuart

191 “No, don’t do that, Scout. Scout?” – “Wha – t?” – H. Lee

192 Her heart hammered and she swayed on the chair. – S. Barstow

193 The pupils of them [her eyes] were like bright bird’s eggs, mottled and stenciled green and orange brown. – H. E. Bates

194 At once he felt his body tighten like a bowstring. – H. E. Bates

195 Every day he took many pictures of her, sometimes in the nude, sometimes in the sea, several times perched high on a rock, like some fabulous red-gold sea creature. – H. E. Bates

196 A small snake of irritation curled sharply up his throat and bit the back of his mouth. – H. E. Bates

197 Each time a child was born she [mother-in-law] planted herself in the household and took charge of every detail …– J. Carry

198 She belonged to a rougher, cruder age, where psychology was practically unheard of, where moral, judgments were simply thrown out like packets from a slot machine, where there were only two kinds of character, bad and good. – J. Carry

199 Children, I should speak to you … your lovely mother … she is out, she went away, she turned to an angel, she went on some kind of trip, she’ll never return, but she’ll always be with you. She is dead.

200 Mrs. Beer puts a red ten on a black jack, gets out an ace, looks up and catches Frank’s eye. – J. Carry

201 Tutin caught his breath and gathered his nerve. – J. Carry

202 “Mom and Dad … You know I love you … but I want … I mean … I’m grown up … I wasn’t to say that …” – “Are you going to marry?” – “Yes …”

203 She seems a stupid animal. – J. Conrad

204 A huge lump of glass lay balanced on the top of a cupboard; it could fall at any moment. – J. Conrad

205 “But WHY if you could tell me WHY, then I might do it,” Paul was saying. – J. Conrad

206 Two large tears fell down her face and two more were on the way like raindrops on a window. – J. Conrad

207 There was no one in there and I swung over to one of the counters to see what was on display. Rings I found, but not simple little circles. These were huge, often asymmetric. – D. Francis

208 On the other hand I healed everywhere fast, bones, skin and optimism. – D. Francis

209 “I found it,” he said – “What?” I was still thinking of Greville [brother]. – “Your brother’s wheels.” – D. Francis

210 Ramon Vacarro, wanted for drug-running, Florida, USA. Suspected of several murders, victims mostly pilots … Vaccaro leaves no mouths alive to chatter. – D. Francis

211 “I’m surprised he gave you a weapon like that,” I said mildly. – “Aren’t they illegal? And him a magistrate.” – D. Francis

212 London at weekends is a graveyard. – D. Francis

213 His small sitting room looked like the path of a hurricane. – D. Francis

214 Fireproof the hiding place undoubtedly was, and thiefproof it had proved. – D. Francis

215 Sitting on the lid of the loo in the bathroom, I unwrapped the crepe bandage and by hopping and holding onto things, took a long, luxurious and much needed shower, washing my hair, letting the dust and debris and the mental tensions of the week run away in the soft bombardment of water. – D. Francis

216 The words died away on his lips, and he hid a guilty gin in his gray beard. – W. W. Jacobs

217 His dry lips shaped the words, “How much?” – W. W. Jacobs

218 Unconscious of his wife’s shriek, the old man smiled faintly, put out his hands like a sightless man, and dropped, a senseless heap, to the floor. – W. W. Jacobs

219 The bed was warm, and his eye heavy with sleep. – W. W. Jacobs

220 There was no breeze. The sea was as flat as a plate-glass window. – R. Connell

221 What I felt was a – a mental chill; a sort of sudden dread. – R. Connell

222 For a seemingly endless time he fought the sea. He began to count his strokes; he could do possibly a hundred more and then – – R. Connell

223 “Where there are pistol shots, there are men. Where there are men, there is food,” he thought. – R. Connell

224 For a moment the general did not reply; he was smiling his curious red-lipped smile. – R. Connell

225 He sipped his wine. – R. Connell

226 He knew his pursuer was coming; he heard the padding sound of feet on the soft earth. He lived a year in a minute. – R. Connell

227 Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. – R. Connell

228 ‘He was deliciously tired’, he said to himself … – R. Connell

229 He remembered the dress she wore; it was her wedding dress, and he said she looked like a lily of the valley. – W. S. Maugham

230 Now that she had learnt something of passion it diverted her to play lightly, like a harpist running his fingers across the strings of his harp, oh his affections. – W. S. Maugham

231 She was like a rosebud that is beginning to turn yellow at the edges of the petals, and then suddenly she was a rose in full bloom. – W. S. Maugham

232 He stood for an instant on the threshold and their eyes met. – W. S. Maugham

233 “I have some work to do,” he said in that quiet, toneless voice, his eyes averted. – W. S. Maugham

234 Well, you know, women are often under the impression that men are much more madly in love with them than they really are. – W. S. Maugham

235 You are simply wonderful. I was shaking like a leaf when I came here and you’ve made everything all right. – W. S. Maugham

236 She was afraid of her mother’s bitter tongue. – W. S. Maugham

237 It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busyness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall. – S. R. Covey

238 Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what other people think or say or do. – Ch. Swindoll

239 We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. – Ch. Swindoll

240 I looked at the gun, and the gun looked at me.

241 Don’t use big words. They mean so little.

242 Say yes. If you don’t, I’ll break into tears. I’ll sob. I’ll moan. I’ll groan.

243 Don’t bite the hand that … looks dirty.

244 Of course it is important. Incredibly, urgently, desperately important.

245 “Want to read it to me?” he asked.

246 “What do you mean,” she asked him. – W. S. Maugham

247 “I had no illusions about you,” he said. “I knew you were silly and frivolous and empty-headed. But I loved you. I knew that your aims and ideals were vulgar and commonplace. But I loved you. I knew that you were second-rate. But I loved you. – W. S. Maugham

248 Wounded vanity can make a woman more vindictive than a lioness robbed of her cubs. – W. S. Maugham

249 He stretched out his hand and took hers. “It’s a scrape we’ve got into, but we shall get out of it. It’s not …” He stopped and Kitty had a suspicion that he had been about to say that it was not the first he had got out of. – W. S. Maugham

250 “He agrees to my divorcing him if your wife will give him the assurance that she will divorce you.” “Anything else?” “And – it’s awfully hard to say, Charlie, it sounds dreadful – if you’ll promise to marry me within a week.” – W. S. Maugham

251 We’ve always got on very well together. She’s been an awfully good wife to me, you know. – W. S. Maugham

252 It’s the ruin of my whole life. Why couldn’t you leave me alone? What harm had I ever done to you? – W. S. Maugham

253 Her night was tortured with strange dreams. – W. S. Maugham

254 He knew that you were vain, cowardly, and self-seeking. He wanted me to see it wanted me to see it with my own eyes. He knew that you’d run like a hare at the approach of danger. He knew how grossly I was in thinking that you were in love with me, because he knew that you were incapable of loving any one but yourself. He knew you’d sacrifice me without a pang to save your own skin. – W. S. Maugham

255 The morning drew on and the sun touched the mist so that it shone whitely like the ghost of snow on a dying star. – W. S. Maugham

256 Listen, ma chère infant … – W. S. Maugham

257 My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;

A-chasing the deer, and following the roe

My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go. – R. Burns

258 The dead have been awakened

Shall I sleep?

The world’s at war with tyrants –

Shall I crouch? – G. G. Byron

259 The moon has a face like the clock in the hall. – R. L. Stevenson

260 The sun and rain in fickle weather

Were playing hide-and-seek together – A. M. Pratt

261 The hand that rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket

262 Join the Jippi Jappa Festival in Jamaica!

263 The garden was alive with the buzz of bees.

264 He’s so crooked he has to screw his socks on.

265 You’ve buttered your bread; now lie in it.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29