| Out of my thoughts! You are part of my existence, part
of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first
came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then.
You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since – on the river,
on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light,
in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets.
You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever
become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings
are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your
hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere,
and will be – to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain
part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil.
But, in this separation I associate you only with the good, and I will
faithfully hold you to that always, for you must have done me far more
good than harm, let me feel now what sharp distress I may. O God bless
you, God forgive you!'
~ Charles Dickens
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