Status Updates From Far from the Madding Crowd

“Being a man not without a frequent consciousness that there was some beauty in this life he led, he stood still after looking at the sky as a useful instrument, and regarded it in an appreciative spirit, as a work of art superlatively beautiful.”

“What possessed the girl to indulge in such a performance in the sight of the sparrows, blackbirds and unperceived farmer, who were alone its spectators - whether the smile began as a factitious one to test her capacity in that art - nobody knows: it ended certainly in a real smile; she blushed at herself, and seeing her reflection blush, blushed the more.”