My favorite sentence in English literature

“Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.” — Dickens

There’s so much atmosphere in those seven words. They reach out to the reader with an earthy simplicity and economy that is nothing like austerity. I suspect that an entire Master’s Thesis could be written about that single sentence, but my unhallowed hands shall not. It’s enough for me to say that Mr. Dickens (or his shade) is welcome in my home at any time.