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121 " ...the true God is to be venerated in obscure and fearful Places, with Horror in their Approaches, and thus did our Ancestors worship the Daemon in the form of great Stones. "
― Peter Ackroyd , Hawksmoor
122 " it has been observed that Londoners became more extravagant in the presence of Charles Dickens, so that they might appear more Dickensian, so "
― Peter Ackroyd , Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination
123 " ...anxiety was, for her, a form of prayer. "
124 " Let Stone be your God and you will find God in the Stone. "
125 " When the city was described as pagan, it was partly because no one living among such urban suffering could have much faith in a god who allowed cities such as London to flourish. "
― Peter Ackroyd , London: The Biography
126 " The most sacred truths of the faith are given full material reality, leading up to that moment when Christ himself becomes present at the altar. This was marked by the moment of elevation when the priest held up the host, become by a miracle the body of Jesus. At that instant candles and torches, made up of bundles of wood, were lit to illuminate the scene; the sacring bell was rung, and the church bells pealed so that those in the neighbouring streets or fields might be aware of the solemn moment. It was the sound which measured the hours of their day. Christ was present in their midst once more and, as a the priest lifted up the thin wafer of bread, time and eternity were reconciled. "
― Peter Ackroyd , The Life of Thomas More
127 " As the Great rise by degrees of Greatnesse to the Pitch of Glory, so the Miserable sink to the Depth of their Misery by a continued Series of Disasters. Yet it cannot be denied but most Men owe not only their Learning to their Plenty, but likewise their Vertue and their Honesty: for how many Thousands are there in the World, in great Reputation for their Sober and Just dealings with Mankind, who if they were put to their Shifts would soon lose their Reputations and turn Rogues and Scoundrels? And yet we punish Poverty as if it were Crime, and honour Wealth as if it were a Vertue. And so goes on the Circle of Things: Poverty begets Sin and Sin begets Punishment. "
128 " There is no real origin for anything. Everything just exists. Everything just exists in order to exist. "
― Peter Ackroyd , Chatterton
129 " The fall of Venice was just a change in its historical identity. We cannot say that it was a disgrace or triumph, because we do not know who in the end is triumphant and who is disgraced. "
― Peter Ackroyd , Venice: Pure City
130 " The less you see, the more you can imagine. "
131 " The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are for ever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered. "
― Peter Ackroyd , The Trial of Elizabeth Cree
132 " Everybody needed news. Everybody wanted news. News was known as ‘hot’. It was a society of conversation so that rumour and gossip passed quickly through the streets. At times of more than usual excitement papers and pamphlets were dropped in the street and were eagerly snatched up and passed from hand to hand. Anonymous publications, without a printer’s imprint, were widely circulated. One owner of a coffee-house trained his parrot to squawk ‘What’s the news?’ at his customers. "
― Peter Ackroyd , Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution (The History of England, #3)
133 " It was a business that engaged a significant part of the nation; the wool was given to village women to comb and to spin before being sent to the weaver; to this day, an unmarried woman is known as a spinster. "
― Peter Ackroyd , Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors (The History of England, #1)
134 " When the first sarsen stone was raised in the circle of Stonehenge, the land we "
135 " It is characteristic of Dickens who, when he grasps the wrong end of the stick, never fails to belabour everyone in sight with it. "
― Peter Ackroyd , Dickens
136 " It was not simply the effect of an epigram but, rather, the product of a fertile mind and keen observation. Wit was the currency of the court of Charles II. "
137 " So on 6 February 1685, the new king, James II, ascended the throne in the face of sustained and organized opposition from Shaftesbury and the Whigs. He was fifty-two years of age and in vigorous health. He had already proved himself to be determined and decisive; he had remained faithful to his Catholic beliefs despite every attempt to persuade him otherwise. He was more resolute and more trustworthy than his brother, but he lacked Charles’s geniality and perceptiveness. He seemed to have no great capacity for compromise and viewed the world about him in the simple terms of light and darkness; there was the monarchy and authority on on side, with republicanism and disorder on the other. His manner was stiff and restrained, his temper short. "
138 " the Gulphe in which truth lies is bottomless and it will wash over whatever is thrown into it. "
139 " Una de las grandes maldiciones del género humano es la de temer cuando no hay nada que temer, contestó. Este ánimo supersticioso y amigo de los presagios desarma los corazones de los hombres, ablanda su coraje y hace que ellos mismos atraigan las desgracias sobre sus cabezas. "
140 " Well,' said Hawksmoor. 'It's a theory and a theory can do no harm. "