100 quotes
A wise man struggling with adversity is said by some heathen writer to be a spectacle on which the gods might look down with pleasure.
Sermon on the Duties of the Queen (1837)
He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
Praise is the best diet for us, after all.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
Every increase of knowledge may possibly render depravity more depraved, as well as it may increase the strength of virtue. It is in itself only power; and its value depends on its application.
My idea of heaven is, eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets.
When I hear any man talk of an unalterable law, the only effect it produces upon me is to convince me that he is an unalterable fool.
Peter Plymley's Letters (1808)
He not only overflowed with learning but stood in the slops.
Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
He [Macaulay] is like a book in breeches.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
Bishop Berkeley destroyed this world in one volume octavo; and nothing remained after his time, but mind — which experienced a similar fate from the hand of Mr. Hume, in 1737.
Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849)
Don't, you know, as the French say, there are three sexes—men, women, and clergymen?
I am old, but I certainly have not that sign of old age, extolling the past at the expense of the present.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
Among the smaller duties of life I hardly know any one more important than that of not praising where praise is not due.
Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849)
Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.
Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849)
Dean Swift's rule is as good for women as for men — never to talk above a half minute without pausing, and giving others an opportunity to strike in.
What a man that would be had he a particle of gall or the least knowledge of the value of red tape. As Curran said of Grattan, "he would have governed the world."
It is the safest to be moderately base — to be flexible in shame, and to be always ready for what is generous, good, and just, when anything is to be gained by virtue.
How can a bishop marry? How can he flirt? The most he can say is, "I will see you in the vestry after service."
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)
Ah! what you don't know would make a great book.
Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)