“ There are very few moments in a man’s existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat. ”
Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers (1836). copy citation
| Author | Charles Dickens |
|---|---|
| Source | The Pickwick Papers |
| Topic | existence experience |
| Date | 1836 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/580/580-h/580-h.htm |
Context
“Winkle had each performed a compulsory somerset with remarkable agility, when the first object that met the eyes of the latter as he sat on the ground, staunching with a yellow silk handkerchief the stream of life which issued from his nose, was his venerated leader at some distance off, running after his own hat, which was gambolling playfully away in perspective.
There are very few moments in a man’s existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat. A vast deal of coolness, and a peculiar degree of judgment, are requisite in catching a hat. A man must not be precipitate, or he runs over it; he must not rush into the opposite extreme, or he loses it altogether.”
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