Selected Passages
These sentences were chosen for Today's Passage: lines worth reading slowly, returning to, and turning into copywork.
From Today's Passage
IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS CONVINCED THAT HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL
Seen in the various phases of his daily life, he gave the idea of being perfectly well-balanced, as exactly regulated as a Leroy chronometer.
A life can be so orderly that it seems almost mechanical. The question is whether precision has left any room for tenderness.
IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS CONVINCED THAT HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL
He was the most deliberate person in the world, yet always reached his destination at the exact moment.
Speed looks elegant when discipline hides the effort. There is pleasure in watching time obey, at least for a while.
IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS CONVINCED THAT HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL
He lived alone, and, so to speak, outside of every social relation; and as he knew that in this world account must be taken of friction, and that friction retards, he never rubbed against anybody.
A life without friction may also be a life without warmth. To avoid being delayed by others is to avoid being altered by them.
IN WHICH A CONVERSATION TAKES PLACE WHICH SEEMS LIKELY TO COST PHILEAS FOGG DEAR
The world is big enough.
The world feels larger when someone believes it can be crossed. Distance shrinks first in the imagination, then in the journey.
IN WHICH A CONVERSATION TAKES PLACE WHICH SEEMS LIKELY TO COST PHILEAS FOGG DEAR
The world has grown smaller, since a man can now go round it ten times more quickly than a hundred years ago.
The world grows smaller on maps and timetables, yet still feels large to the heart. Speed changes distance without exhausting wonder.
IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG ASTOUNDS PASSEPARTOUT, HIS SERVANT
Passepartout had a moist sensation about the eyes; his master’s action touched his susceptible heart.
Hidden warmth is most powerful when it appears through action. A seemingly cold life can reveal its soul in one generous choice.
IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT RECEIVES A NEW PROOF THAT FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE
His master’s idea charmed him; he perceived a heart, a soul, under that icy exterior.
Affection often begins when we glimpse the heart beneath another person’s habits. Loyalty grows where warmth was not expected.
IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT RECEIVES A NEW PROOF THAT FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE
He began to love Phileas Fogg.
Respect can deepen into love when hidden generosity becomes visible. Loyalty often begins with one act that reveals the person beneath the habit.
SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO HONG KONG
He was passing methodically in his orbit around the world, regardless of the lesser stars which gravitated around him.
Precision can become a kind of orbit, impressive and lonely. The danger is that people nearby begin to look like lesser stars.
SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO HONG KONG
Yet there was near by what the astronomers would call a disturbing star, which might have produced an agitation in this gentleman’s heart.
Love can disturb even the most regulated life. One human presence may alter an orbit no clock could change.
IN WHICH FIX COMES FACE TO FACE WITH PHILEAS FOGG
Chance, however, appeared really to have abandoned the man it had hitherto served so well.
Chance has a way of humbling the most exact plans. The world keeps some authority for itself.
IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG DOES NOT HAVE TO REPEAT HIS ORDERS TO PASSEPARTOUT TWICE
They say, though, that misery itself, shared by two sympathetic souls, may be borne with patience.
Shared sorrow can make endurance less lonely. Pain does not vanish, but it changes when another heart bears part of its weight.
IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG DOES NOT HAVE TO REPEAT HIS ORDERS TO PASSEPARTOUT TWICE
The sincerity, rectitude, firmness, and sweetness of this soft glance of a noble woman, who could dare all to save him to whom she owed all, at first astonished, then penetrated him.
A single glance can alter the meaning of a journey. Gratitude and courage may reach a heart that discipline kept untouched.
IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT PHILEAS FOGG GAINED NOTHING BY HIS TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, UNLESS IT WERE HAPPINESS
His object was, however, to be victorious, and not to win money.
Victory can be purer than profit when the test is really against oneself. Some wagers are about proving order can endure.
IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT PHILEAS FOGG GAINED NOTHING BY HIS TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, UNLESS IT WERE HAPPINESS
Truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world?
The world is worth circling when wonder is worth more than the wager. Adventure asks what distance can reveal about desire.