Quotes from book
Whirligigs

Whirligigs

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O. Henry photo

“Man is too thoroughly an egoist not to be also an egotist; if he love, the object shall know it. During a lifetime he may conceal it through stress of expediency and honour, but it shall bubble from his dying lips, though it disrupt a neighbourhood. It is known, however, that most men do not wait so long to disclose their passion.”

"Blind Man's Holiday"
Whirligigs (1910)
Context: Man is too thoroughly an egoist not to be also an egotist; if he love, the object shall know it. During a lifetime he may conceal it through stress of expediency and honour, but it shall bubble from his dying lips, though it disrupt a neighbourhood. It is known, however, that most men do not wait so long to disclose their passion. In the case of Lorison, his particular ethics positively forbade him to declare his sentiments, but he must needs dally with the subject, and woo by innuendo at least.

O. Henry photo

“It couldn't have happened anywhere but in little old New York.”

"A Little Local Color"
Whirligigs (1910)

O. Henry photo

“It ain't the roads we take; it's what's inside of us that makes us turn out the way we do.”

"The Roads We Take"
Whirligigs (1910)

O. Henry photo

“Bolivar cannot carry double”

"The Roads We Take"
Whirligigs (1910)

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