Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
There is scarcely any popular tenet more erroneous than that which holds that when time is slow, life is dull.
Extreme views are never just; something always turns up which disturbs the calculations formed upon their data.
Without dancing you can never attain a perfectly graceful carriage, which is of the highest importance in life.
Twilight makes us pensive; Aurora is the goddess of activity; despair curses at midnight; hope blesses at noon.
Lady Lytton rules her husband, but that I suppose is always the case where marriages are what is called 'happy'.
The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.
Those authors who appear sometimes to forget they are writers, and remember they are men, will be our favorites.
The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.
Nothing in life is more remarkable than the unnecessary anxiety which we endure, and generally create ourselves.
Through persistence numerous individuals win accomplishment out of what appeared bound to be sure disappointment.
Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination.
Why should one say that the machine does not live? It breathes, for its breath forms the atmosphere of some towns.
The enterprise of America precedes that of Europe, as the industry of England precedes that of the rest of Europe.
All is race; there is no other truth ,and every race must fall which carelessly suffers its blood to become mixed.
There are few faces that can afford to smile: a smile is sometimes bewitching, in general vapid, often a contortion.
We are now in want of an art to teach how books are to be read rather than to read them. Such an art is practicable.
I think that an author who speaks about his own books is almost as bad as a mother who talks about her own children.
Great revolutions, whatever may be their causes, are not lightly commenced, and are not concluded with precipitation.
I think there is nothing more lovely than the love of two beautiful women who are not envious of each other's charms.
The world is governed by personalities very different to what people that cannot see further than their eyes, believe
Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.
Of all unfortunate men one of the unhappiest is a middling author endowed with too lively a sensibility for criticism.
Rothschild is the lord and master of the money markerts of the world and virtually lord and master of everything else.
The feeling of satiety, almost inseparable from large possessions, is a surer cause of misery than ungratified desires.
There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.
As a rule, man is a fool. When it's hot, he wants it cool; When its cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting, what is not.
Ah, Ireland... That damnable, delightful country, where everything that is right is the opposite of what it ought to be.
The noble Lord (Stanley) was the Prince Rupert to the Parliamentary army--his valour did not always serve his own cause.
The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend.
The character of a woman rapidly develops after marriage, and sometimes seems to change, when in fact it is only complete.
Governments do not govern, but merely control the machinery of government, being themselves controlled by the hidden hand.
Frank and explicit - that is the right line to take when you wish to conceal your own mind and confuse the minds of others.
Never argue. In society nothing must be; give only results. If any person differs from you, bow, and turn the conversation.
What wonderful things are events! The least are of greater importance than the most sublime and comprehensive speculations.
Happiness is only to be found in a recurrence to the principles of human nature; and these will prompt very simple measures.
The delight of opening a new pursuit, or a new course of reading, imparts the vivacity and novelty of youth even to old age.
The eyes of the social herd, who always observe little things, and generally form from them their opinions of great affairs.
Nothing can withstand the power of the human will if it is willing to stake its very existence to the extent of its purpose.
Beware of endeavoring to become a great man in a hurry. One such attempt in ten thousand may succeed. These are fearful odds.
London owes everything to its press: it owes as much to its press as it does to its being the seat of government and the law.
Whenever you see a man who is successful in society, try to discover what makes him pleasing, and if possible adopt his system.
There is anguish in the recollection that we have not adequately appreciated the affection of those whom we have loved and lost.
Nonsense, when earnest, is impressive, and sometimes takes you in. If you are in a hurry, you occasionally mistake it for sense.
A good eater must be a good man; for a good eater must have a good digestion, and a good digestion depends upon a good conscience.
Without tact you can learn nothing. Tact teaches you when to be silent. Inquirers who are always questioning never learn anything.
The very phrase 'foreign affairs' makes an Englishman convinced that I am about to treat of subjects with which he has no concern.
Proverbs were anterior to boots, and formed the wisdom of the vulgar, and in the earliest ages were the unwritten laws of morality.
You never observe a great intellectual movement in Europe in which the Jews do NOT greatly participate. The first Jesuits were Jews.
A nation will not count the sacrifice it makes, if it supposes it is engaged in a struggle for its fame, its influence and its existence.
The art of conversation is to be prompt without being stubborn, to refute without argument, and to clothe great matters in a motley garb.