Jordan Oates's Key Ideas from A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens

"A coach, and six horses, and such a freight ofглядящие down faces, that for three miles all eyes were попеременно on the уведомление board behind, 'лайфing' FOR SOMEONE."

"The Dover mail was in its usual рискованное state of uncertainty. Whether it would ever reach Dover, was a matter of глубокое speculation."

"He had a secret to communicate, a message to deliver, which might be worth all the blood, if it could be saved."

"His boots were covered with dust. He had a quantity of dust about him; somehow, there seemed to be more dust upon him than upon any dusty object in the stage-coach."

"His manner was so dry and cold, that it seemed almost impossible to break the ice which had gathered about it."

"I am a disappointed drudge, sir. I care for no man on earth, and no man cares for me."

"He did not seem to have moved for a score of years."

"The стук of the hammer was loud in the зале; the стук of his heart was louder."...

"His hands were постоянно at work. Sometimes, they were making something; sometimes, they were only twisting and turning, быстро and nervously."

...

"'One hundred and five, North Tower!' He repeated it несколько times, in a low voice." (A cryptic and haunting echo of his imprisonment)

"'I have come to bring you,' said Mr. Lorry, taking her hand, 'to your father.'" 

"I hope you care to be recalled to life?"

"He had been buried alive for a long time; she had come to dig him out."

"A large cask had been dropped and broken in the street. The wine had run out into the road; it had been trodden under foot, and lay all about, smelling faintly of an acidulous vintage."...

"It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes. The река of красное wine flowed on, дикий and dirty, to the морской."

All the people within reach had suspended their business, or their idleness, to run to the spot and drink the wine."

"His tools lay near him, and he had a piece of unfinished work before him."

"His memory was gone, and he was making shoes—making shoes as if his life depended on it."

"Her father's white head was bent low over his work, and her own fair hair was touching it."

"Tellson's Bank by Temple Bar was an old-fashioned place, even in 1780."

"Death is a recipe for totally forgetting everything that ever interested you."

"The упорство of the почтенный old clerk, as he stood объясняя to the заседатель, was wonderful."

"Monseigneur, one of the great lords in power, did a wild thing."

"He had been known for a magnificence of display that had long since bought him into sharp distress."

"He had carried his disappointment so long, that it seemed to have become a part of himself, a part of his expression, a part of his manner."

"He was a good man, Mr. Lorry."

"I am like one who died young. All my life might have been."

"Sydney Carton drank the punch at his elbow."

"I care for no man on earth, and no man cares for me."

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." 

"Sydney Carton, idlest and most unpromising of men, was Stryver's great ally."

"Stryver, a glib man, and a fellow of some ability and great push, could never have been where he was without Carton."

"He was so careless and indifferent, that he never appeared to care whether he performed his duties or not."

"The toiling mills of the court were grinding out their paper crumbs."

"There were the witnesses for the prosecution and the witnesses for the defence, until it seemed as if all the world were witnesses."

"Every eye then rested on the prisoner."

"Monseigneur was about to take his chocolate."

"The leprosy of unreality disfigured every human creature in attendance upon Monseigneur."

"It will die out in the next generation."

"The village had its one poor street, with its poor brewery, poor tannery, poor tavern, poor stable-yard for relays of post-horses, poor fountain, all usual poor appointments." 

"His chateau was left to itself to decay."

"Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend, will keep the dogs quiet..."

"It was a heavy mass of building, that château of Monsieur the Marquis, with a large stone courtyard before it, and two stone sweeps of staircase meeting in a stone gallery over the door." 

"Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from Jacques."

"And then the stone face was driven in like a coffin-lid."

"He made a solemn vow before the coffin, that if ever he found the man who had done this deed, he would devote his life to its destruction."

"I will never ask you what you have told me. I will never seek to know what you conceal. But I charge you solemnly...that you assist me to the end."

"Her father's loving arms were round her, and her mother's tears were falling on her face."

"Sydney Carton filled another glass with wine."

"I wish you would use your talents better."

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done."

"Mr. Stryver then called his few friends about him, and told them that Lucie Manette was the prize he sought."

"Think of a man of talent, Sydney," said Mr. Stryver, throwing his hat back on his head; "think of a man of talent, and figure."

"I am a man of business. I have a right to speak plainly."

"He had had a bitter disappointment, the one of his life."

"His face had become frozen, as it were, in a very hard and stern expression."

"He had seen her in her father's room, he had seen her at the trial, he had seen her going away from him with her husband."

"Mr. Cruncher's apartments were not in a savoury neighbourhood..."

"...a woman of orderly and frugal habits; who had a strong sense of religious duty..."

"'Recalled to life' once more."

"Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about thirty, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, but saw everything that was being done."

"She had a peculiar skill in netting, of which she had thoroughly availed herself."

"It was nothing but a register of the condemned."

"'The chateau and all the race?' inquired the mender of roads."

"'Extermination,' said Defarge; 'that the child may know that these things are not done with impunity.'"

"'Tell wind and fire where to stop,' returned Madame Defarge, 'but don't tell me.'"

"'Monsieur Charles,' said Defarge, standing in the door, 'I wish you good night.'"

"'In secret, and in silence, and in the face of death itself, Monsieur heretofore the Marquis, tells all.'"

"The load of the stone was gone down, and had been carried away, and the образовавшийся пустота, бывшая the weight, was filled with порох."

"The load of secret agony under which the prisoner had so long toiled, was thrown down, and fell away from him like a vestment."

"A child was born to them."

...

"Happiness had come to her, own bright Happiness and a little golden head."

"Sydney Carton was an habitual visitor at the quiet corner, and had his own chair a little removed from the fire." 

...

"He never spoke of the past. But he did work, now; and his work was silently and steadily done."

"'I have no business here myself,' said Mr. Lorry. 'This is a matter of delicacy. I cannot interfere.'"

"'I am a disappointed drudge,' said Mr. Cruncher, surlily; 'I am not allowed to be anything else.'" 

"It is a hopeless case."

"'My dear Lucie, hear me. I have something on my mind to say to you.'"

"'For your sake, Lucie,'—Sydney Carton pleaded earnestly, 'I would do anything on earth that you asked me to do.'"

"O Miss Manette, when I am laid in my grave, I wish to be remembered as a man who had a heart."

"The echoes of footsteps died away, and the swell of the surging revolution rolled onward."

"A frightful sound arose. It had every characteristic of the cry of the sea, that has ever been known."

"The sea of black and threatening waters, and not a boat upon it."

"The sea of black and threatening waters rolled on, and was very high."

"They had been so patient and inoffensive that his guilt, and the base rank to which it reduced him, were almost unbearable."

"Down with the chateau, down with the oppressor, down with him high over all!"

"The château was left to the guardianship of certain of the peasant men and women who had been foremost in the revolt."

"Flames burst forth. In half an hour the château was a ruin."

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine. One thousand."

"A terrible attraction drew him irresistibly to the loadstone rock."

"He believed that if he went back, he could do some good there."

"He resolved to go."

"The sea of black and threatening waters, which had of late begun to subside, was mounting to a terrible height."

"'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death;—the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!'"

"He knew that if he was denounced—and against such new, fierce citizens, how could he hope to prove himself?—he would be lost."

"Hunger was pushed out of the tall houses in the wretched clothing that hung upon poles and lines; Hunger was patched into them with straw and rag and wood and paper; Hunger was repeated in every fragment of the small modicum of fire-wood that the man sawed off..." 

"The eye of the populace was the eye of a tiger, and they would have torn him limb from limb if he had dared to resist."

"Tellson's Bank, though feeling the неспокойствие of the time, надеялось that some разумный arrangement might be come to."

"One cannot help thinking of the spiritual sickness which must have directed all this."

"Tell the Wind and the Fire where to stop; not me!"

"Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule."

"Lucie had her work, and it was the creation of beauty."

"Her father did not refer to it, or appear to have any recollection of it."

"He was so much the more anxious, owing to his knowledge of the state of Paris."

"The mender of roads looked at the prisoner, and with a natural hesitation in his manner, asked: 'Monsieur heretofore the Marquis!'"

"It is droll to think," said the fellow, "that until last year, I and my comrades were at his chateau, and had no privilege whatever there."

"But now I can see the end of it."

"One prisoner of considerable note was brought before the tribunal."

"Accused, Charles Evrémonde, known by the appellation of Darnay!"

"Triumph and congratulations were universal."

"Keep him in safe custody, and wait the pleasure of the Tribunal."

"Citizen Gabelle!"

"The Law is the Law."

"Play!"

"Citizen Doctor," said Madame Defarge, speaking to him in her usual calm, confident voice, "is it not necessary that this man be put in a secret cell?"

"I have evidence against him."

"The game was played."

"Charles Evrémonde, what have you to say in your defence?"

"Condemned."

"I am a Briton born."

"Her brother was my countryman."

"Denunciation."

"Darkness closed around, and the great bell of Notre Dame tolled out hour after hour."

"A wild, red figure of a woman, whom he knew so well, crossed his path."

"If you are not going to save him, if you are going to let him die, tell me so; and I will know what I have to do."

"Sydney Carton, and the Attorney-General were drinking a bottle of port together in a private room that faced the street."

"I am afraid you must have been doing a great deal of harm in your life, if you can do so much good at this death."

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

"Fifty-two were to die that night."

"He had no fear of death."

"I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss..." (Carton's vision)

"Madame Defarge had not moved from the spot where she had stood last."

"My husband has been used to see it, ever since he married me."

"Then tell Wind and Fire where to stop," said Madame Defarge. "But don't tell me."

"Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh."

"I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (Words Carton remembers) 

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."