Lost Face quotes
The lines readers remember from Lost Face, by Jack London.
11 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
He had lived so many dreary years that he was indeed tired.
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When this had been carried out, Subienkow lay down in the snow, resting his head on the log like a tired child about to sleep.
He had lived so many dreary years that he was indeed tired.
“I laugh at you and your strength, O Makamuk,” he said. “Strike, and strike hard.”
There is no getting rid of that Spot. He will be with me until I die, for he’ll never die.
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Steve went north to Seattle, I learned, that very morning. I didn’t put on any more weight. My wife made me buy him a collar and tag, and within an hour he showed his gratitude by killing her pet Persian cat.
There is no getting rid of that Spot. He will be with me until I die, for he’ll never die.
My appetite is not so good since he arrived, and my wife says I am looking peaked. Last night that Spot got into Mr. Harvey’s henhouse (Harvey is my next-door neighbour) and killed nineteen of his fancy-bred chickens. I shall have to pay for them.
Your life has been like a cabin where the fire is out and there are no blankets on the floor.
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“You have grudged the very fire in your house because the wood cost overmuch!” he cried. “You have grudged life. To live cost overmuch, and you have refused to pay the price.
Your life has been like a cabin where the fire is out and there are no blankets on the floor.
” He signalled to a slave to fill his glass, which he held aloft. “But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm. It is true, you shall live long.
But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm.
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Your life has been like a cabin where the fire is out and there are no blankets on the floor.” He signalled to a slave to fill his glass, which he held aloft. “
But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm.
It is true, you shall live long. But the longest nights are the cold nights when a man shivers and lies awake. My nights have been short, but I have slept warm.”
“Only the debts to God are settled in the next world. The debts of men are of this world, and in this world are they settled.”
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Vain were the attempts to dissuade her. The missionary at St. George wrestled with her, but she replied—
“Only the debts to God are settled in the next world. The debts of men are of this world, and in this world are they settled.”
Akoon wrestled with her, but she replied, “I do love thee, Akoon; but honour is greater than love, and who am I that I should blacken my father?”
“I do love thee, Akoon; but honour is greater than love, and who am I that I should blacken my father?”
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Akoon wrestled with her, but she replied,
“I do love thee, Akoon; but honour is greater than love, and who am I that I should blacken my father?”
Sister Alberta journeyed all the way up from Holy Cross on the first steamer, and to no better end.
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Lost Face
He had lived so many dreary years that he was indeed tired.
Show the passage
When this had been carried out, Subienkow lay down in the snow, resting his head on the log like a tired child about to sleep.
He had lived so many dreary years that he was indeed tired.
“I laugh at you and your strength, O Makamuk,” he said. “Strike, and strike hard.”
To Build a Fire
Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero.
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Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, earflaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks.
Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero.
That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head.
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination.
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It was not because he was long used to it. He was a newcomer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter.
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination.
He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, and that was all.
That Spot
Those eyes never pleaded like a deer’s eyes. They challenged.
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No; it was different from a mere expression; it was more than that. I don’t know what it was, but it gave me a feeling of kinship just the same. Oh, no, not sentimental kinship. It was, rather, a kinship of equality.
Those eyes never pleaded like a deer’s eyes. They challenged.
No, it wasn’t defiance. It was just a calm assumption of equality. And I don’t think it was deliberate. My belief is that it was unconscious on his part. It was there because it was there, and it couldn’t help shining out.
The Klondike is a good country. I might have been there yet, and become a millionaire, if it hadn’t been for Spot.
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On no scientific grounds can that Spot be explained. It’s psychic phenomena, or mysticism, or something of that sort, I guess, with a lot of theosophy thrown in.
The Klondike is a good country. I might have been there yet, and become a millionaire, if it hadn’t been for Spot.
He got on my nerves. I stood him for two years altogether, and then I guess my stamina broke. It was the summer of 1899 when I pulled out. I didn’t say anything to Steve. I just sneaked. But I fixed it up all right.
There is no getting rid of that Spot. He will be with me until I die, for he’ll never die.
Show the passage
Steve went north to Seattle, I learned, that very morning. I didn’t put on any more weight. My wife made me buy him a collar and tag, and within an hour he showed his gratitude by killing her pet Persian cat.
There is no getting rid of that Spot. He will be with me until I die, for he’ll never die.
My appetite is not so good since he arrived, and my wife says I am looking peaked. Last night that Spot got into Mr. Harvey’s henhouse (Harvey is my next-door neighbour) and killed nineteen of his fancy-bred chickens. I shall have to pay for them.
The Wit of Porportuk
Your life has been like a cabin where the fire is out and there are no blankets on the floor.
Show the passage
“You have grudged the very fire in your house because the wood cost overmuch!” he cried. “You have grudged life. To live cost overmuch, and you have refused to pay the price.
Your life has been like a cabin where the fire is out and there are no blankets on the floor.
” He signalled to a slave to fill his glass, which he held aloft. “But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm. It is true, you shall live long.
But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm.
Show the passage
Your life has been like a cabin where the fire is out and there are no blankets on the floor.” He signalled to a slave to fill his glass, which he held aloft. “
But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm.
It is true, you shall live long. But the longest nights are the cold nights when a man shivers and lies awake. My nights have been short, but I have slept warm.”
My nights have been short, but I have slept warm.
Show the passage
“But I have lived. And I have been warm with life as you have never been warm. It is true, you shall live long. But the longest nights are the cold nights when a man shivers and lies awake.
My nights have been short, but I have slept warm.
”
“Only the debts to God are settled in the next world. The debts of men are of this world, and in this world are they settled.”
Show the passage
Vain were the attempts to dissuade her. The missionary at St. George wrestled with her, but she replied—
“Only the debts to God are settled in the next world. The debts of men are of this world, and in this world are they settled.”
Akoon wrestled with her, but she replied, “I do love thee, Akoon; but honour is greater than love, and who am I that I should blacken my father?”
“I do love thee, Akoon; but honour is greater than love, and who am I that I should blacken my father?”
Show the passage
Akoon wrestled with her, but she replied,
“I do love thee, Akoon; but honour is greater than love, and who am I that I should blacken my father?”
Sister Alberta journeyed all the way up from Holy Cross on the first steamer, and to no better end.
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