21 wise and elegant Charles Dickens quotes for teachers

Pencil drawing of Charles Dickens sat at a desk

It sometimes helps to look to the literary greats for inspiration and help, so we’ve gathered some Charles Dickens quotes that apply to the daily life of a teacher. Feel free to copy them out on a post-it and stick them to your laptop for daily reminder of how fantastic you are!

 

Famous Charles Dickens quotes

 

1. “A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self.”

A Tale of Two Cities

 

2. “Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.”

Our Mutual Friend

 

3. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

A Tale of Two Cities

 

4. “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.”

Nicholas Nickleby

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” 

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

 

5. “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

A Christmas Carol

 

6. “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

Our Mutual Friend

 

7. “We need never be ashamed of our tears.”

Great Expectations 

8. “The most important thing in life is to stop saying, ‘I wish’ and start saying, ‘I will’. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.”

David Copperfield

 

9. “Please sir, I want some more.”

Oliver Twist

 

10. “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope -into a better shape...”

Great Expectations

 

Charles Dickens fact file

Born: 7th February 1812

Place of birth: Hampshire, England

Published books: At least 19 

Died: 9th June 1870 (aged 58)

Four fun facts: 

  • Worked as a reporter covering politics in the 1830s.
  • Many of Dickens novels were initially published as weekly or monthly instalments.
  • He setup a rehabilitation home for “fallen women” like the homeless or ex-prisoners.
  • His first works were published under the pseudonym “Boz.”

11. “There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”

Oliver Twist

 

12. “Family not only needs to consist of merely those whom we share blood, but also of those whom we’d give blood.”

Mugby Junction

 

13. “Ask no questions and you’ll be told no lies.”

Great Expectations

 

14. “It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.

Oliver Twist

 

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” 

Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend

 

15. “Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast.

Martin Chuzzlewit

 

16. “Love, though said to be afflicted with blindness, is a vigilant watchman.

Our Mutual Friend

 

17. “There are very few moments in a man’s existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat.

The Pickwick Papers

 

18. “There is a wisdom of the head and wisdom of the heart.”

Hard Times

 

19. “A word in earnest is as good as a speech.”

Bleak House

 

There is a wisdom of the head and wisdom of the heart.” 

Charles Dickens, Hard Times

20. “One always begins to forgive a place as soon as it’s left behind.”

Little Dorrit 

 

21. “Trifles make the sum of life.”

Great Expectations

<a href="https://blog.hope-education.co.uk/author/amber-vaccianna/" target="_self">Amber Vaccianna</a>

Amber Vaccianna

Hope blog writer

25 November 2020

Tags - Advice | News

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