Literature gives us access to panoramic vistas beyond our previous understanding. Many novels through the ages have provided wonderful quotations through which we can experience bits of the world within.
Especially significant are opening lines:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
— Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
And closing lines:
“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, A Tale of Two Cities
What are some of your favorites?