Robinson Crusoe Quotes

“There are some secret moving Springs in the Affections, which when they are set a going by some Object in View, or be it some Object, tho’ not in View, yet render’d present to the Mind by the Power of Imagination, that Motion carries out the Soul by its Impetuosity to such violent eager Embracings of the Object, that the Absence of it is insupportable.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“But I, that was born to be my own destroyer...”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“L'orso è infatti un animale grosso e pesante; non corre come il lupo, scattante e leggero; [...] se lo incontrate nel bosco e non vi occupate dei suoi affari lui non si occupa dei vostri; ma dovete stare attenti a essere sempre cerimoniosi con lui, a cedergli per esempio il passaggio, perché si tratta di un gentiluomo testardo, che non intende fare un passo fuori dal suo percorso, altezzoso come un re: cosicché se davvero lo temete, la cosa migliore è fingere di non vederlo e tirar via; perché se per caso vi fermate, irrigiditi dalla paura, guardandolo fisso, lui prenderà ciò come un affronto, e se voi gli lanciate o scagliate qualcosa che lo colpisce, sia pure un pezzetto di ramo grosso come un dito, lo considererà come un oltraggio, lascerà perdere le sue faccende per vendicarsi, essendo un suo chiodo fisso chiedere soddisfazione sulle questioni d'onore.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“El bote era en verdad mucho mayor que todas las canoas o piraguas hechas de troncos que yo viera en mi vida. Muchos hachazos me había costado por cierto, y ahora solo faltaba botarlo al agua; de haberlo conseguido hubiera yo emprendido a su bordo el más alocado e imposible viaje de que se tenga memoria alguna.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“All Evills are to be consider'd with the Good that is in them, and with what worse attends them.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“I gave humble and hearty thanks that God had been pleased to discover to me even that it was possible I might be more happy in this solitary condition, than I should have been in a liberty of society, and in all the pleasures of the world; that He could fully make up to me the deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of human society, by His presence, and the communications of His grace to my soul, supporting, comforting, and encouraging me to depend upon His providence here, and hope for His eternal presence hereafter.

It was now that I began sensibly to feel how much more happy this life I now led was, with all its miserable circumstances, than the wicked, cursed, abominable life I led all the past part of my days. And now I changed both my sorrows and my joys; my very desires altered, my affections changed their gusts, and my delights were perfectly new from what they were at my first coming, or indeed for the two years past.

Before, as I walked about, either on my hunting, or for viewing the country, the anguish of my soul at my condition would break out upon me on a sudden, and my very heart would die within me, to think of the woods, the mountains, the deserts I was in, and how I was a prisoner, locked up with the eternal bars and bolts of the ocean, in an uninhabited wilderness, without redemption. In the midst of the greatest composures of my mind, this would break out upon me like a storm, and make me wring my hands, and weep like a child. Sometimes it would take me in the middle of my work, and I would immediately sit down and sigh, and look upon the ground for an hour or two together; and this was still worse to me, for if I could burst out into tears, or vent myself by words, it would go off, and the grief, having exhausted itself, would abate.

But now I began to exercise myself with new thoughts. I daily read the Word of God, and applied all the comforts of it to my present state. One morning, being very sad, I opened the Bible upon these words, "I will never, never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Immediately it occurred that these words were to me; why else should they be directed in such a manner, just as the moment when I was mourning over my condition, as one forsaken of God and man? "Well, then," said I, "if God does not forsake me, of what ill consequence can it be, or what matters it, though the world should all forsake me, seeing on the other hand if I had all the world, and should lose the favor and blessing of God, there would be no comparison in the loss?"

From that moment I began to conclude in my mind that it was possible for me to be more happy in this forsaken solitary condition, than it was probable I should ever have been in any other particular state in the world, and with this thought I was going to give thanks to God for bringing me to this place.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“...they are not asham'd to sin, and yet are asham'd to repent; not asham'd of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are asham'd of the returning...”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“No vaya a ser que la sorpresa arranque de su
corazón el espíritu animal de la vida y termine con él. Pues las alegrías repentinas, como las penas, confunden al principio”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“L'attesa di un male è un supplizio assai più grave del male stesso, soprattutto se non abbiamo la possibilità di scuoterci di dosso quell'ansia tormentosa.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“«Pues bien – dije –, si Dios no me va a abandonar, ¿qué puede ocurrirme o qué importancia puede tener el que todo el mundo me haya abandonado, cuando pienso que la pérdida sería mucho mayor si tuviese el mundo entero a mi disposición y perdiese el favor y la bendición de Dios?».

Desde ese momento, comencé a convencerme de que, posiblemente, era más feliz en esta situación de soledad y abandono que en cualquier otro estado en el mundo. Con estos pensamientos le di gracias a Dios por haberme traído a este lugar.

No se qué ocurrió, pero algo me turbó y me impidió pronunciar las palabras de agradecimiento. «¿Cómo puedes ser tan hipócrita – me dije en voz alta – y fingirte agradecido por una situación de la cual, a pesar por tus esfuerzos por resignarte a ella, deseas liberarte con todas las fuerzas de tu corazón?».”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

“Moj mi je položaj stvarao tmurne izglede. Budući da me kao što rekoh, na taj otok dotjerala žestoka oluja i bacila sasvim izvan smjera našega namjeravanog puta i jako daleko, možda nekoliko stotina milja, od redovitih trgovačkih putova,i mao sam mnogo razloga da to smatram odlukom sudbine da na tom pustom mjestu i tako osamljen dokrajčim svoj život. Kad bih o tome razmišljao, suze bi mi potokom tekle niz lice. Katkada bih sam sebe pitao zašto sudbina tako temeljito uništava svoja stvorenja i čini ih tako strašno nesretnima, napuštenima i bespomoćnima, tako potpuno bijednima da bi jedva bilo razumno biti zahvalan za takav život.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe