# Quote — Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native

> It was at present a place perfectly accordant with man's nature—neither ghastly, hateful, nor ugly; neither commonplace, unmeaning, nor tame; but, like man, slighted and enduring; and withal singularly colossal and mysterious in its swarthy monotony. As with some persons who have long lived apart, solitude seemed to look out of its countenance. It had a lonely face, suggesting tragical possibilities.

- Author: [Thomas Hardy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy.md)
- Book: [The Return of the Native](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-return-of-the-native.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy#The_Return_of_the_Native_(1878)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-return-of-the-native/it-was-at-present

## More from this book

> Human beings, in their generous endeavour to construct a hypothesis that shall not degrade a First Cause, have always hesitated to conceive a dominant power of lower moral quality than their own; and, even while they sit down and weep by the waters of Babylon, invent excuses for the oppression which prompts their tears.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-return-of-the-native/human-beings-in-their.md)

> How bewitched I was! How could there be any good in a woman that everybody spoke ill of?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-return-of-the-native/how-bewitched-i-was.md)

> A well proportioned mind is one which shows no particular bias; one of which we may safely say that it will never cause its owner to be confined as a madman, tortured as a heretic, or crucified as a blasphemer. Also, on the other hand, that it will never cause him to be applauded as a prophet, revered as a priest, or exalted as a king. Its usual blessings are happiness and mediocrity.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-return-of-the-native/a-well-proportioned.md)