The collection / 215 fragments

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Passages, proverbs, and questions carried across the ages.

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215 results · Page 7 of 9Play this collection ▷

01Undated

If you were upset about an ugly pimple on the end of your nose, you might try to feel better by keeping your pimple in perspective. You might compare your pimple situation to that of someone who was being eaten by a bear, and when you looked in the mirror at your ugly pimple, you could say to yourself, 'Well, at least I'm not being eaten by a bear.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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02Undated

Whenever you are examining someone else's belongings, you are bound to learn many interesting things about the person of which you were not previously aware.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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03Undated

One could say, in fact, that no story really has a beginning, and that no story really has an end, as all of the world's stories are as jumbled as the items in the arboretum, with their details and secrets all heaped together so that the whole story, from beginning to end, depends on how you look at it.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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04Undated

Criminals should be punished, not fed pastries.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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05Undated

We are respecting our parents' wishes....They didn't want to shelter us from the world's treacheries. They wanted us to survive them.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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06Undated

The expression 'Those who can't do, teach' is a curious one, because if you look at the world , you'll see that teachers aren't particularly worse at doing things than anyone else, so perhaps the expression might be better worded as 'nobody can do anything

Lemony Snicket / quote

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07Undated

But the law is an odd thing. For instance, one country in Europe has a law that requires all its bakers to sell bread at the exact same price. A certain island has a law that forbids anyone from removing its fruit. And a town not too far from where you live has a law that bars me from coming within five miles of its borders.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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08Undated

...bravery often demands a price.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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09Undated

The world is too quiet without you nearby.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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10Undated

You write poetry?" Klaus asked.He had read a lot about poets but had never met one."Just a little bit," Isadora said modestly. "I write poems down in this notebook. It's an interest of mine.""Sappho!" Sunny shrieked, which meant something like, "I'd be very pleased to hear a poem of yours!

Lemony Snicket / quote

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11Undated

Like many people who dress in black, the lump of coal was interested in becoming an artist.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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12Undated

A long time ago, there was no such thing as school, and children spent their days learning a trade, a phrase which here means "standing around doing tedious tasks under the instruction of a bossy adult." In time, however, people realized that the children could be allowed to sit, and the first school was invented.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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13Undated

There's nothing wrong with athletics, but they shouldn't get in the way of your schoolwork.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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14Undated

That night was a dark day. Of course, all nights are dark days, because night is simply a badly lit version of day, ...

Lemony Snicket / quote

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15Undated

I think everyone's parents have secrets. You just have to know where to look for them.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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16Undated

Reader: Dear Mr. Snicket, What is the best way to keep a secret? Lemony Snicket : Tell it to everyone you know, but pretend you are kidding.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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17Undated

We both wanted to know each other's secrets, and we both wanted the other person to go first.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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18Undated

A secret note is secret. There is no reason to sign it.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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19Undated

The world is swirling with so many mysteries and secrets that nobody will ever track down all of them. But with a book you can stay up very late, reading until all the secrets are clear to you. The questions of the world are hidden forever, but the answers in a book are hiding in plain sight.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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20Undated

There are two good reasons to put your napkin in your lap. One is that food might spill in your lap, and it is better to stain the napkin than your clothing. The other is that it can serve as a perfect hiding place. Practically nobody is nosey enough to take the napkin off a lap to see what is hidden there.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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21Undated

If only Uncle Monty knew what we know," Violet said, "and Stephano knew that he knew what we know. But Uncle Monty doesn't know what we know, and Stephano knows that he doesn't know what we know.""I know," Klause said."I know you know," Violet said

Lemony Snicket / quote

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22Undated

Simply put, dramatic irony is when a person makes a harmless remark, and someone else who hears it knows something that makes the remark have a different, and usually unpleasant, meaning. For instance, if you were in a restaurant and said out loud, "I can't wait to eat the veal marsala I ordered," and there were people around who knew that the veal marsala was poisoned and that you would die as soon as you took a bite, your situation would be one of dramatic irony.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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23Undated

Moxie gave me a small smile. "Why do you always say that- which here means?""I'll probably outgrow it," I said.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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24Undated

Being curious is the most important part of being a journalist. It might be the most important part of being anything.

Lemony Snicket / quote

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