Perhaps a man never sees so much at a glance as when he is in a situation of extremity.
 Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841). copy citation

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Author Charles Dickens
Source Barnaby Rudge
Topic glance
Date 1841
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/917/917-h/917-h.htm

Context

“and some half-dozen men lay fast asleep upon their backs, snoring in concert. After remaining here just long enough to note these things, he was marched out again, and conveyed across the parade-ground to another portion of the building. Perhaps a man never sees so much at a glance as when he is in a situation of extremity. The chances are a hundred to one, that if Barnaby had lounged in at the gate to look about him, he would have lounged out again with a very imperfect idea of the place, and would have remembered very little about it.” source