Desultory thoughts and reflections by Countess of Marguerite Blessington
"Desultory thoughts and reflections by Countess of Marguerite Blessington" is a collection of aphorisms, maxims, and poetic musings written in the early Victorian era. This book falls into the category of philosophical and literary reflection, presenting observations on human nature, society, morality, and the complexities of emotion. The author, Countess of Blessington, offers concise and keen insights into topics such as love, happiness, knowledge, and the roles of men and women, all
rendered in a style typical of refined 19th-century salons. The work is not built around a narrative or characters, but instead is a compendium of intellectual and moral reflections meant to provoke thought and self-examination. The content of the book consists of brief yet profound statements and occasional short poems, each addressing a different theme or aspect of life. Blessington explores the contradictions and illusions inherent in human experience—contrasting youth and age, passion and reason, solitude and society, and the pursuit of happiness with the inevitability of sorrow and loss. Many reflections touch on the superficiality of society, the challenges of friendship and love, the dangers of pride and vanity, and the bittersweet nature of memory and experience. Through these fragments, the Countess encourages readers to cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and genuine virtue, while questioning the values and appearances upheld by the prevailing culture of her time. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
| How to read | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.html.images | 132 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.epub3.images | 517 kB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.epub.images | 524 kB | |||
| EPUB (no images, older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.epub.noimages | 390 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.kf8.images | 773 kB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.kindle.images | 648 kB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75737.txt.utf-8 | 98 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/75737/pg75737-h.zip | 504 kB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
About this eBook
| Author | Blessington, Marguerite, Countess of, 1789-1849 |
|---|---|
| Title | Desultory thoughts and reflections |
| Original Publication | New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1839. |
| Note | Reading ease score: 67.5 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. |
| Credits | Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections |
| Subject | Maxims |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 75737 |
| Release Date | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Most Recently Updated | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 344 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |
