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This etext was produced by David Widger <[email protected]>

QUOTATIONS FROM THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EDITION OF THE WORKS OF JOHN GALSWORTHY

by David Widger

CONTENTS:

The Forsyte Saga:
     Volume 1. The Man of Property
     Volume 2. Indian Summer of a Forsyte
               In Chancery
     Volume 3. Awakening
               To Let
Other Novels:
     The Dark Flower
     The Freelands
     Beyond
     Villa Rubein and Other Stories
          Villa Rubein
          A Man of Devon
          A Knight
          Salvation of a Forsyte
          The Silence
     Saint's Progress
     The Island Pharisees
     The Country House
     Fraternity
     The Patrician
     The Burning Spear
     Five Short Tales
          The First and Last
          A Stoic
          The Apple Tree
          The Juryman
          Indian Summer of a Forsyte
Essays and Studies:
     Concerning Life
          Inn of Tranquility
          Magpie over the Hill
          Sheep-shearing
          Evolution
          Riding in the Mist
          The Procession
          A Christian
          Wind in the Rocks
          My Distant Relative
          The Black Godmother
          Quality
          The Grand Jury
          Gone
          Threshing
          That Old-time Place
          Romance—three Gleams
          Memories
          Felicity
     Concerning Letters
          A Novelist's Allegory
          Some Platitudes Concerning Drama
          Meditation on Finality
          Wanted—Schooling
          On Our Dislike of Things as They Are
          The Windlestraw
          About Censorship
          Vague Thoughts on Art
Plays:
     First Series:
          The Silver Box
          Joy
          Strife
     Second Series:
          The Eldest Son
          The Little Dream
          Justice
     Third Series:
          The Fugitive
          The Pigeon
          The Mob
     Fourth Series:
          A Bit O' Love
          The Foundations
          The Skin Game
     Six Short Plays:
          The First and The Last
          The Little Man
          Hall-marked
          Defeat
          The Sun
          Punch and Go

EDITOR'S NOTE

These extracts are paragraphs and short phrases which it is hoped may entice readers unfamiliar with Galsworthy to look over the books of this Nobel Prize winning author. Readers well acquainted with his works may wish to see if their favorite passages are listed in this selection. The etext editor will be glad to add your suggestions. One of the advantages of internet over paper publication is the ease of quick revision.

All the titles may be found using the Project Gutenberg search engine. After downloading a specific file, the location and complete context of the quotations may be found by inserting a small part of the quotation into the 'Find' or 'Search' functions of the user's word processing program.

The quotations are in two formats: 1. Small passages from the text. 2. An alphabetized list of one-liners.

The editor may be contacted at <[email protected]> for comments, questions or suggested additions to these extracts.

D.W.

WIDGER'S QUOTATIONS of JOHN GALSWORTHY

THE FORSYTE SAGA:

VOLUME 1. THE MAN OF PROPERTY /gutenberg/etext01/mnprp10.txt

PASSAGES FROM THE TEXT:

The simple truth, which underlies the whole story, that where sex attraction is utterly and definitely lacking in one partner to a union, no amount of pity, or reason, or duty, or what not, can overcome a repulsion implicit in Nature.

The tragedy of whose life is the very simple, uncontrollable tragedy of being unlovable, without quite a thick enough skin to be thoroughly unconscious of the fact. Not even Fleur loves Soames as he feels he ought to be loved. But in pitying Soames, readers incline, perhaps, to animus against Irene: After all, they think, he wasn't a bad fellow, it wasn't his fault; she ought to have forgiven him, and so on!

"Let the dead Past bury its dead" would be a better saying if the Past ever died. The persistence of the Past is one of those tragi-comic blessings which each new age denies, coming cocksure on to the stage to mouth its claim to a perfect novelty.

The figure of Irene, never, as the reader may possibly have observed, present, except through the senses of other characters, is a concretion of disturbing Beauty impinging on a possessive world.

She turned back into the drawing-room; but in a minute came out, and stood as if listening. Then she came stealing up the stairs, with a kitten in her arms. He could see her face bent over the little beast, which was purring against her neck. Why couldn't she look at him like that?

But though the impingement of Beauty and the claims of Freedom on a possessive world are the main prepossessions of the Forsyte Saga, it cannot be absolved from the charge of embalming the upper-middle class.

When a Forsyte was engaged, married, or born, the Forsytes were present; when a Forsyte died—but no Forsyte had as yet died; they did not die; death being contrary to their principles, they took precautions against it, the instinctive precautions of highly vitalized persons who resent encroachments on their property.

"It's my opinion," he said unexpectedly, "that it's just as well as it is."

The eldest by some years of all the Forsytes, she held a peculiar position amongst them. Opportunists and egotists one and all— though not, indeed, more so than their neighbours—they quailed before her incorruptible figure, and, when opportunities were too strong, what could they do but avoid her!

"I'm bad," he said, pouting—"been bad all the week; don't sleep at night. The doctor can't tell why. He's a clever fellow, or I shouldn't have him, but I get nothing out of him but bills."

There was little sentimentality