Home > Work > The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
1 " Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable? One symbol, indeed, has obscured all others--the minted round of metal. And one may safely say that, of all the ages since a coin first became the symbol of power, ours is that in which it yields to the majority of its possessors the poorest return in heart's contentment. "
― George Gissing , The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
2 " Nowhere is the English genius of domesticity more notably evident than in the festival of afternoon tea. The [...] chink of cups and the saucers tunes the mind to happy repose. "
3 " The earning of money should be a means to an end; for more than thirty years--I began to support myself at sixteen--I had to regard it as the end itself. "
4 " Only English folk know what is meant by gravy; consequently, the English alone are competent to speak on the question of sauce. "