A Tale of Two Cities Life, Consciousness, and Existence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"I am not old, but my young way was never the way to age. Enough of me." (3.9.57)

As Carton observes, living in a specific time can be as important to the type of life you lead as anything else. "The way of the age" determines who succeeds and who fails, who lives and even—during the French Revolution—who dies.

Quote #8

His mother had died, years before. These solemn words, which had been read at his father's grave, arose in his mind as he went down the dark streets, among the heavy shadows, with the moon and the clouds sailing on high above him. "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." (3.9.89)

Repeating the words of the gospel may seem like a strange choice for Sydney Carton. In the final moments of his life, however, he demonstrates a true (if unlooked-for) sense of faith in the people around him, the nation he dies in, and the higher power he invokes.

Quote #9

Eye to eye, voice to voice, hand to hand, heart to heart, these two children of the Universal Mother, else so wide apart and differing, have come together on the dark highway, to repair home together, and to rest in her bosom. (3.15.30)

Dickens attempts to find a moment of peace and unity in the middle of chaos. Given the emphasis on how none of us can really know our fellow humans, it’s fitting that this unity is only found when two strangers "come together."