Far from the Madding Crowd

by Thomas Hardy

“Sheep are such unfortunate animals!—there’s always something happening to them! I never knew a flock pass a year without getting into some scrape or other.”

If I could summarise this book in two quotes, this would be one of them…

Standing before this abraded pile, the eye regarded its present usage, the mind dwelt upon its past history, with a satisfied sense of functional continuity throughout—a feeling almost of gratitude, and quite of pride, at the permanence of the idea which had heaped it up.

Churches and castles change hands and purpose, but a barn stays a barn. You know Harry really ate this bit, I was listening to this in an Amsterdam bathroom and rewound three times whilst brushing my teeth.

What a way Oak had, she thought, of enduring things. Boldwood, who seemed so much deeper and higher and stronger in feeling than Gabriel, had not yet learnt, any more than she herself, the simple lesson which Oak showed a mastery of by every turn and look he gave—that among the multitude of interests by which he was surrounded, those which affected his personal well-being were not the most absorbing and important in his eyes.

… and this would be the other

It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.

A great line when taken out of context, I’m sure with distance from the book it will become empowering rather than slightly patronising