Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
He who would see old Hoghton right Must view it by the pale moonlight.
Pride erects a little kingdom of its own, and acts as sovereign in it.
Common sense, to most people, is nothing more than their own opinions.
The vain man makes a merit of misfortune, and triumphs in his disgrace.
If you give an audience a chance they will do half your acting for you.
Men of gravity are intellectual stammerers, whose thoughts move slowly.
When you find out a man's ruling passion, beware of crossing him in it.
There is no flattery so adroit or effectual as that of implicit assent.
To be happy, we must be true to nature and carry our age along with us.
Art must anchor in nature, or it is the sport of every breath of folly.
Violent antipathies are always suspicious, and betray a secret affinity.
A really great man has always an idea of something greater than himself.
Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.
The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard.
Women never reason, and therefore they are (comparatively) seldom wrong.
If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.
The best kind of conversation is that which may be called thinking aloud.
He who draws upon his own resources easily comes to an end of his wealth.
The diffusion of taste is not the same thing as the improvement of taste.
They [corporations] feel neither shame, remorse, gratitude, nor goodwill.
We may be willing to tell a story twice, never to hear it more than once.
The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.
Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
To the proud the slightest repulse or disappointment is the last indignity.
Those people who are uncomfortable in themselves are disagreeable to others.
One shining quality lends a lustre to another, or hides some glaring defect.
By despising all that has preceded us, we teach others to despise ourselves.
...greatness sympathises with greatness, and littleness shrinks into itself.
Life is a continued struggle to be what we are not, and to do what we cannot.
It is remarkable how virtuous and generously disposed every one is at a play.
If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
Fashion is gentility running away from vulgarity and afraid of being overtaken
Anyone is to be pitied who has just sense enough to perceive his deficiencies.
We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it.
A great chessplayer is not a great man, for he leaves the world as he found it.
We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.
People are not soured by misfortune, but by the reception they meet with in it.
You shall yourself be judge. Reason, with most people, means their own opinion.
A King (as such) is not a great man. He has great power, but it is not his own.
We are not satisfied to be right, unless we can prove others to be quite wrong.
The most silent people are generally those who think most highly of themselves.
Though familiarity may not breed contempt, it takes off the edge of admiration.
No one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves.
I am always afraid of a fool. One cannot be sure that he is not a knave as well.
I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me
What I mean by living to one's self is living in the world, as in it, not of it.
We must overact our part in some measure, in order to produce any effect at all.
The mind revolts against certain opinions, as the stomach rejects certain foods.
He who is as faithful to his principles as he is to himself is the true partisan.
A man who is determined never to move out of the beaten road cannot lose his way.