Bram Stoker Quotes & Sayings

I am too miserable, too low-spirited, too sick of the world and all in it, including life itself, and I would not care if I heard this moment the flapping of the wings of the angel of death. — Bram Stoker

I told him exactly what had happened and he listened with seeming impassiveness, but his nostrils twitched and his eyes blazed as I told how the ruthless hands of the Count had held his wife in that terrible and horrid position, with her mouth to the open wound in his breast. It interested me, even at that moment, to see that whilst the face of white set passion worked convulsively over the bowed head, the hands tenderly and lovingly stroked the ruffled hair. — Bram Stoker

As yet we know nothing of what goes to create or evoke the active spark of life. — Bram Stoker

I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting. — Bram Stoker

We are in Transylvania, and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to you many strange things. Nay, from what you have told me of your experiences already, you know something of what strange things there may be. — Bram Stoker

Ordinary men, to whom all things are possible, don't often, if ever, think of Heaven. It is a name, and nothing more, and they are content to wait and let things be, but to those who are doomed to be shut out for ever you cannot think what it means, you cannot guess or measure the terrible endless longing to see the gates opened, and to be able to join the white figures within. — Bram Stoker

It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import. — Bram Stoker

A tall man, thin and pale, with high nose and teeth so white, and eyes that seem to be burning. That he be all in black, except that he have a hat of straw which suit not him or the time. — Bram Stoker

Faith, that faculty which enables us to believe things which we know to be untrue. — Bram Stoker

It all seems like a horrible tragedy, with fate pressing on relentlessly to some destined end. Everything that one does seems, no matter how right it may be, to bring on the very thing which is most to be deplored. — Bram Stoker

We learn from failure, not from success! — Bram Stoker

The poor wretch was doubtless torturing himself, after the manner of the insane, with needless thoughts of pain. — Bram Stoker

You think to baffle me, you with your pale faces all in a row, like sheep in a butcher's. You shall be sorry yet, each one of you! You think you have left me without a place to rest, but I have more. My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your girls that you all love are mine already. And through them you and others shall yet be mine, my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my jackals when I want to feed. Bah! — Bram Stoker

Jonathan's eyes closed, and he went quickly into a sleep, with his head on my shoulder. — Bram Stoker

Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pulls us in different ways. Then tears come; and, like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until the strain becomes too great, and we break. — Bram Stoker

It was almost impossible to believe that the things which we had seen with — Bram Stoker

Can you tell me why, when other spiders die small and soon, that one great spider lived for centuries in the tower of the old Spanish church and grew and grew, till, on descending, he could drink the oil of all the church lamps? — Bram Stoker

Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique silver lamp, in which the flame burned without a chimney or globe of any kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the open door — Bram Stoker

I could not pity her, for I knew now what had become of her child, and she was better dead. — Bram Stoker

I have always thought that a wild animal never looks so well as when some obstacle of pronounced durability is between us. A personal experience has intensified rather than diminished that idea. — Bram Stoker

They were made by Miss Lucy! — Bram Stoker

You will not be content, I know, to remain in the dark. Nay, the end, the very end, may give you a gleam of peace. — Bram Stoker

I want to cut off her head and take out her heart. — Bram Stoker

Well, the devil may work against us for all he's worth, but God sends us men when we want them. — Bram Stoker

Some of the 'New Women' writers will some day start an idea that men and women should be allowed to see each other asleep before proposing or accepting. But I suppose the 'New Woman' won't condescend in future to accept. She will do the proposing herself. And a nice job she will make of it too! — Bram Stoker

I cannot afford to lose blood just at present. I have lost too much of late for my physical good, and then the prolonged strain of Lucy's illness and its horrible phases is telling on me. I am over excited and weary, and I need rest, rest, rest. Happily Van Helsing has not summoned me, so I need not forego my sleep. Tonight I could not well do without it. TELEGRAM, — Bram Stoker

But we are strong, each in our purpose, and we are all more strong together. — Bram Stoker

I was sorry to notice that my clumsiness with the safety-pin hurt her. Indeed, it might have been serious, for the skin of her throat was pierced. I must have pinched up a piece of loose skin and have transfixed it, for there are two little red points like pin-pricks, and on the band of her nightdress was a drop of blood. When I apologised and was concerned about it, she laughed and petted me, and said she did not even feel it. Fortunately it cannot leave a scar, as it is so tiny. — Bram Stoker

She threw herself on her knees, and raising up her hands, cried the same words in tones which wrung my heart. Then she tore her hair and beat her breast, and abandoned herself to all the violences of extravagant emotion. — Bram Stoker

Preserve my sanity, for to this I am reduced. Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past. Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already. If I be sane, then surely it is maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this hateful place. — Bram Stoker

We seem to be drifting into unknown places and unknown ways. — Bram Stoker

Chasing an errant swarm of bees is nothing to following a naked lunatic when the fit of escaping is upon him! — Bram Stoker

We've all become god's madmen, all of us. — Bram Stoker

For the dead travel fast. — Bram Stoker

And when he had crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him. — Bram Stoker

When I told Mrs. Westenra that Dr. Van Helsing had directed that I should sit up with her, she almost pooh-poohed the idea, pointing out her daughter's renewed strength and excellent spirits. I was firm, however, and made preparations for my long vigil. When her maid had prepared her for the night I came in, having in the meantime had supper, and took a seat by the bedside. She — Bram Stoker

Feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had
come which must end in its undoing, — Bram Stoker

The captain swore polyglot -very polyglot- polyglot with bloom and blood. — Bram Stoker

Perhaps at the end the little things may teach us most. — Bram Stoker

The only beautiful thing in the world whose beauty lasts for ever is a pure, fair soul. — Bram Stoker

I am glad that it is old and big. I myself am of an old family, and to live in a new house would kill me. A house cannot be made habitable in a day; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century. I rejoice also that there is a chapel of old times. We Transylvanian nobles love not to think that our bones may be amongst the common dead. I seek not gaiety nor mirth, not the bright voluptuousness of much sunshine and sparkling waters which please the young and gay. I am no longer young; and my heart, through wearing years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth. Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken; the shadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through the broken battlements and casements. I love the shade and the shadow, and would be alone with my thoughts when I may. — Bram Stoker

Take me away from all this Death. — Bram Stoker

He means to succeed, and a man who has centuries before him can afford to wait and to go slow. — Bram Stoker

But, on the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knife. I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat. Whilst at the same moment Mr. Morris's bowie knife plunged into the heart. — Bram Stoker

31 October.
Still hurrying along. The day has come, — Bram Stoker

We men are all in a fever of excitement, except Harker, who is calm. His hands are cold as ice, and an hour ago I found him whetting the edge of the great Ghoorka knife which he now always carries with him. It will be a bad lookout for the Count if the edge of that "Kukri" ever touches his throat, driven by that stern, ice-cold hand! — Bram Stoker

To believe what?" "To believe in things that you cannot. Let me illustrate. I heard once of an American who so defined faith: 'that faculty which enables us to believe things which we know to be untrue.' For one, I follow that man. He meant that we shall have an open mind, and not let a little bit of truth check the rush of a big truth, like a small rock does a railway truck. We get the small truth first. Good! We keep him, and we value him; but all the same we must not let him think himself all the truth in the universe. — Bram Stoker

I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordnance Survey Maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post town named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place. I shall enter here some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over my travels with Mina. — Bram Stoker

There is a method in his madness, and the rudimentary idea in my mind is growing. It will be a whole idea soon, and then, oh, unconscious cerebration. — Bram Stoker

Bless that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck! For it is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help. Is it that there is something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium, a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort? Some time, if it may be, I must examine this matter and try to make up my mind about it. In the meantime I must find out all I can about Count Dracula, as it may help me to understand. Tonight he may talk of himself, if I turn the conversation that way. I must be very careful, however, not to awake his suspicion. — Bram Stoker

How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of good men
even if there are monsters in it. — Bram Stoker

Let me be accurate in everything, for though you and I have seen some strange things together, you may at the first think that I, Van Helsing, am mad. That the many horrors and the so long strain on nerves has at the last turn my brain. — Bram Stoker

What sort of grim adventure was it on which I had embarked? — Bram Stoker

The Bride maidens rejoice the eyes that wait the coming of the bride. But when the bride draweth nigh, then the maidens shine not to the eyes that are filled. — Bram Stoker

I am Dracula, and I bid you welcome ... — Bram Stoker

It is the eve of St. George's Day. Do you not know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway? — Bram Stoker

We learn of great things by little experiences. — Bram Stoker

If a man's esteem and gratitude are ever worth the winning, you have won mine today. If ever the future should bring to you a time when you need a man's help, believe me, you will not call in vain. God grant that no such time may ever come to you to break the sunshine of your life; but if it should ever come, promise me that you will let me know. — Bram Stoker

No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves. — Bram Stoker

Though sympathy alone can't alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable. — Bram Stoker

Still, your mind works true, and argues not a particulari ad universale. — Bram Stoker

The strangest figures we saw were the Slovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big cow-boy hats, great baggy dirty-white trousers, white linen shirts, and enormous heavy leather belts, nearly a foot wide, all studded over with brass nails. They wore high boots, with their trousers tucked into them, and had long black hair and heavy black moustaches. They are very picturesque, but do not look prepossessing. On — Bram Stoker

My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. — Bram Stoker

Loneliness will sit over our roofs with brooding wings. — Bram Stoker

DRACULA A Mystery Story by Bram Stoker — Bram Stoker

Miss, I lack belly-timber sairly by the clock. — Bram Stoker

Remember my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker — Bram Stoker

There is a reason that all things are as they are, and did you see with my eyes and know with my knowledge, you would perhaps better understand. — Bram Stoker

Is it possible that love is all subjective, or all objective? — Bram Stoker

And the young do not tell themselves to the young, but to the old, like me, who have known so many sorrows and the causes of them. — Bram Stoker

It seems that there is never to be any perfect rest. Even in Eden the snake rears its head among the laden boughs of the Tree of Knowledge. The silence of the dreamless night is broken by the roar of the avalanche; the hissing of sudden floods; the clanging of the engine bell marking its sweep through a sleeping American town; the clanking of distant paddles over the sea ... — Bram Stoker

You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by making your toilet. — Bram Stoker

Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? — Bram Stoker

There must be no concealment," she said. "Alas! We have had too much already. And besides there is nothing in all the world that can give me more pain than I have already endured, than I suffer now! — Bram Stoker

Author: Bram Stoker — Bram Stoker

He have allowed us to redeem one soul already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem more. Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise. And like them, if we fall, we fall in good cause. — Bram Stoker

presses, and in our implied agreement with the old scytheman it is of the essence of the contract. I — Bram Stoker

He bowed in a courtly way as he replied: I am Dracula. and I bid you welcome, Mr Harker, to my house. Come in; the night air is chill, and you must need to eat and rest. — Bram Stoker

Despair has its own calms. — Bram Stoker

Bats usually wheel about, but this one seemed to go straight on, as if it knew where it was bound for or had some intention of its own. — Bram Stoker

All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of beauty of every kind. Sometimes we saw little towns or castles on the top of steep hills such as we see in old missals; sometimes we ran by rivers and streams which seemed from the wide stony margin on each side of them to be subject of great floods. It takes a lot of water, and running strong, to sweep the outside edge of a river clear. — Bram Stoker

:...I love you with all the moods and tenses of the verb... — Bram Stoker

Come,' he said, 'come, we must see and act. Devils or no devils, or all the devils at once, it matters not; we fight him all the same. — Bram Stoker

There is certainly something to ponder over in this man's state. Several points seem to make what the American interviewer calls "a story," if one could only get them in proper order. Here they are: Will not mention "drinking." Fears the thought of being burdened with the "soul" of anything. Has no dread of wanting "life" in the future. Despises the meaner forms of life altogether, though he dreads being haunted by their souls. Logically all these things point one way! He has assurance of some kind that he will acquire some higher life. He dreads the consequence, the burden of a soul. Then it is a human life he looks to! And the assurance ... ? Merciful God! The Count has been to him, and there is some new scheme of terror afoot! — Bram Stoker

There was a deliberate voluptuousness that was both thrilling and repulsive.
And as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal till I could see in the moonlight the moisture
Then lapped the white, sharp teeth.
Lower and lower went her head. I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited. — Bram Stoker

The waves rose in growing fury, each over-topping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring monster. — Bram Stoker

Here I am, sitting at a little oak table where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much thought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love-letter, and writing in my diary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last. — Bram Stoker

The traces of such an illness as his do not lightly die away. We should have written long ago, but we knew nothing of his friends, and there was nothing on him, nothing that anyone could understand. He came in the train from Klausenburg, and — Bram Stoker

I had for breakfast more paprika, and a sort of porridge of maize flour which they said was "mamaliga", and egg-plant stuffed with forcemeat, a very excellent dish, which they call "impletata". (Mem.,get recipe for this also.) — Bram Stoker

Oh, why must a man like that be made unhappy when there are lots of girls about who would worship the very ground he trod on? — Bram Stoker

But we are pledged to set the world free. Our toil must be in silence, and our efforts all in secret. For in this enlightened age, when men believe not even what they see, the doubting of wise men would be his greatest strength. It would be at once his sheath and his armor, and his weapons to destroy us, his enemies, who are willing to peril even our own souls for the safety of one we love. For the good of mankind, and for the honor and glory of God. — Bram Stoker

Perhaps I may gain more knowledge out of the folly of this madman than I shall from the teaching of the most wise. — Bram Stoker

These infinitesimal distinctions between man and man are too paltry for an Omnipotent Being. How these madmen
give themselves away! The real God taketh heed lest a sparrow fall. But the God created from human vanity sees
no difference between an eagle and a sparrow. — Bram Stoker

Leaving the two loving hearts alone with their God. — Bram Stoker

Nature in one of her beneficent moods has ordained that even death has some antidote to its own terrors. — Bram Stoker

And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere "modernity" cannot kill. Later: — Bram Stoker

When all was over, I could see how much Arthur was weakened. I dressed the wound and took his arm to bring him away, when Van Helsing spoke without turning round, the man seems to have eyes in the back of his head, "The brave lover, I think, deserve another kiss, which he shall have presently." And as he had now finished his operation, he adjusted the pillow to the patient's head. As — Bram Stoker

I suppose a cry does us all good at times-clears the air as other rain does. — Bram Stoker

Transcendentalism is a beacon to the angels, even if it be a will-o'-the-wisp to man. — Bram Stoker

Two were dark, and had high aquiline noses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing eyes, that seemed to be almost red when contrasted with the pale yellow moon. The other was fair, as fair as can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires. I seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it in connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the moment how or where. All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips. There — Bram Stoker