Jude the Obscure

By Thomas Hardy QUOTATION: For a novel addressed by a man to men and women of full age; which attempts to deal unaffectedly with the fret and fever, derision and disaster, that may press in the wake of the strongest passion known to humanity; to tell, without a mincing of words, of a deadly war waged between flesh and spirit; and to point the tragedy of unfulfilled aims, I am not aware that there is anything in the handling to which exception can be taken.
ATTRIBUTION: Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), British novelist, poet. Jude the Obscure, preface to the first edition (1895).

QUOTATION: And so, standing before the aforesaid officiator, the two swore that at every other time of their lives till death took them, they would assuredly believe, feel, and desire precisely as they had believed, felt, and desired during the few preceding weeks. What was as remarkable as the undertaking itself was the fact that nobody seemed at all surprised at what they swore.
ATTRIBUTION: Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), British novelist, poet. Jude the Obscure, part first, ch. 9 (1895).