13 quotes
The great difficulty of Christianity is that many of the Bible revelations seem to clash with our sense of justice and right.
The Religious Tendencies of the Age (1860)
The great art in politics consists not in hearing those who speak, but in hearing those who are silent.
The map of life; conduct and character (1899)
Terror is everywhere the beginning of religion.
History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe (1910)
There have certainly been many periods in history when virtue was more rare than under the Caesars; but there has probably never been a period when vice was more extravagant or uncontrolled.
A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne (1869)
There was a tradition that Pythagoras had himself penetrated to India, and learnt philosophy from the gymnosophists.
A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne (1869)
Ambition is the luxury of the happy. It is sometimes, but more rarely, the consolation and distraction of the wretched...
The map of life; conduct and character (1899)
Whence has come thy lasting power.
It is abundantly evident, both from history and from present experience, that the instinctive shock, or natural feeling of disgust, caused by the sight of the sufferings of men is not generically different from that which is caused by the sight of the sufferings of animals.
A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne (1869)
Men continually forget that Happiness is a condition of Mind, and not a disposition of circumstances, and one of the most common of errors is that of confusing happiness with the means of happiness, sacrificing the first for the attainment of the second.
The map of life; conduct and character (1899)
We are Cavaliers or Roundheads before we are Conservatives or Liberals.
The Political Value of History (1892)
At one time the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity, and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world. In each of these stages a standard is formed, different from that of the preceding stage, but in each case the same tendency is recognised as virtue.
A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne (1869)
The stately ship is seen no more,
The fragile skiff attains the shore;
And while the great and wise decay,
And all their trophies pass away,
Some sudden thought, some careless rhyme,
Still floats above the wrecks of Time.
Nations seldom realise till too late how prominent a place a sound system of finance holds among the vital elements of national stability and well-being; how few political changes are worth purchasing by its sacrifice; how widely and seriously human happiness is affected by the downfall or the perturbation of national credit, or by excessive, injudicious, and unjust taxation.