The value of old age depends upon the person who reaches it. To some men of early performance it is useless. To others, who are late to develop, it just enables them to finish the job. – Thomas Hardy
My argument is that War makes rattling good history but Peace is poor reading. – Thomas Hardy
I was court-martial in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence. – Thomas Hardy
The sudden disappointment of a hope leaves a scar which the ultimate fulfillment of that hope never entirely removes. – Thomas Hardy
For one seldom hears a genuine laugh nowadays, and much of the phraseology of laughter is a mere fashion of speech. There are many people whose sides have never ached from over-indulgence in the outward expression of mirth…. With some persons a wheeze or a chuckle is the utmost they can compass. – “Laughter,” in The Spectator for the week ending Saturday, January 19, 1889