Top 50 Inspirational Charles Dickens Quotes

“Charles Dickens, ‘Hard Times’ and Hyperbole“, by Gresham College, licensed under CC0 1.0

If you’ve ever read any of Charles Dickens books, the chances are that you still have captivating memories of his stories. Charles Dickens was one such gifted writer despite having little formal education. He was famous for creating fictional characters with unpredictable storylines. As a result, some of his books made their way into screenplays and award-winning movies such as Oliver, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield.

The English writer and social critic was a great influencer of literature in the Victorian era, and his work remains alive today through different forms of literature. Generally described as classic, his stories appealed to everyone in society. Today, we are lucky to have some of his inspirational quotes archived on the internet. On that note, here is a compilation of 50 inspirational Charles Dickens quotes.

Charles Dickens Quotes

“Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.”
Charles Dickens

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

“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.”
Charles Dickens

“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be.”
Charles Dickens

“There is the wisdom of the head, and there is the wisdom of the heart.”
Charles Dickens

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

“Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart to.”
Charles Dickens

“I only ask to be free, the butterflies are free.”
Charles Dickens

“O ’tis love, ’tis love, ’tis love that makes the world go round!”
Charles Dickens

“Do the wise thing and the kind thing too, and make the best of us and not the worst.” – Charles Dickens, Hard Times

“Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers, and are famous preservers of good looks.”
Charles Dickens

“Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight in it when it comes.”
Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickelby

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

“This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in.”
Charles Dickens

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
Charles Dickens

“Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.”
Charles Dickens

“Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.”
Charles Dickens

“The first rule of business is: Do other men for they would do you.”
Charles Dickens

“An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.”
Charles Dickens

“Let us be moral. Let us contemplate existence.”

“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

“It’s my old girl that advises. She has the head. But I never own to it before her. Discipline must be maintained.”
Charles Dickens

“There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in contrast.”
Charles Dickens

“Change begets change. Nothing propagates so fast.”
Charles Dickens

“Trifles make the sum of life.”
Charles Dickens

“Fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship; and pass the rosy wine.”
Charles Dickens

“Never be mean in anything; never be false; never be cruel. Avoid those three vices.”
Charles Dickens

“I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.”
Charles Dickens

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

“There are enough talkers among us; I’ll be one of the doers.”

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

“From the death of each day’s hope another hope sprung up to live tomorrow.”
Charles Dickens

“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”
Charles Dickens

“We wear the chains we forged in life.”
Charles Dickens

“But injustice breeds injustice; the fighting with shadows and being defeated by them necessitates the setting up of substances to combat.”
Charles Dickens

“A boy’s story is the best that is ever told.”
Charles Dickens

“Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs.”
Charles Dickens

“You don’t carry in your countenance a letter of recommendation.”
Charles Dickens

“Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire.”
Charles Dickens

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

“The broken heart. You think you will die, but you just keep living day after day after terrible day.”
Charles Dickens

“So may the New Year be a happy one to you, happy to many more whose happiness depends on you!”
Charles Dickens

“Never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.”
Charles Dickens, Floating Quote

“A new heart for a New Year, always!”
Charles Dickens

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
Charles Dickens

“The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will’.”
Charles Dickens

“Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.”
Charles Dickens

“Such is hope, heaven’s own gift to struggling mortals.”
Charles Dickens

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

“No space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused.”

We hope that these quotes by Charles Dickens will inspire you to make certain lifestyle changes. Based on these famous Charles Dickens quotes, it is clear that he was more than a writer; he was an intellectual, educator, motivator, and above all, a wise man.

If you enjoyed reading these quotes by Charles Dickens, please check out these 30 APJ Abdul Kalam quotes for further inspiration.