A loving heart is the truest wisdom.
Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
To conceal anything, from those to whom I am attached, is not in my nature. I can never close my lips, where I have opened my heart.
Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried, with all my heart, to do it well. Whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely. In great aims and in small, I have always thoroughly been in earnest.
A silent look of affection and regard, when all other eyes are turned coldly away — the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being, when all others have deserted us — is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase or power bestow.
Charles John Huffam Dickens [7 February 1812 — 9 June 1870] was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature’s most iconic novels and characters. [Wikipedia]
Here are two slightly different explanations for the “Boz” nickname of Charles Dickens:
In December 1833, Charles Dickens’ first literary effort was published. It was a sketch or essay entitled, ‘A Dinner at Poplar Walk.’ Other sketches soon followed.
Dickens wanted a memorable way of identifying the sketches as his. He finally picked a nickname for himself. One of his favorite characters in Goldsmith’s ‘Vicar of Wakefield’ was called Moses. Moses became ‘Boses,’ which became ‘Boz.’ In 1836, a collection of the essays, entitled ‘Sketches by Boz,’ was published and was a great success. [www.perryweb.com]
Dickens said: ” ‘Boz‘ was the nickname of a pet child, a younger brother, whom I had dubbed Moses, in honour of Goldsmith’s ‘Vicar of Wakefield,’ which, being pronounced ‘Bozes,’ got shortened into ‘Boz.’ “
The real name of the brother was Augustus. Dickens’ own son was christened Charles Culliford Boz Dickens.
Dickens used a pen name for his first stories because he was, at the time, a serious political columnist, and the lightweight sketches and stories he first published might have damaged his credibility.” [www.Wiki.answers.com]
Notes from Margot:
I assume that ‘Boz’ rhymes with ‘nose.’
For more information about Charles Dickens and other famous authors and their works of literature, see: www.AuthorsInk.com. The creator of the blog, Dr. Elliot Engel, is entertaining AND scholarly. Order books and CD’s, containing the lectures of Dr. Engel.
Margot’s Corner 