It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

1. The opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, referring to the time of the French Revolution.

Example Sentences

When Charles Dickens began his 1859 novel “A Tale of Two Cities” with the legendary line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” who knew that it would aptly describe the state of amateur football in 2025?

From Los Angeles Times

As Dickens put it, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ...”

From Los Angeles Times

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens’s 1859 novel set during the French Revolution, he wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.”

From National Geographic

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” is the first line of which classic novel?

From Slate

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

From Washington Post