Skip to content

William Makepeace Thackeray on Mother's Day

1811–1863 England

← All quotes by William Makepeace Thackeray

12 quotes

It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all. Some of us can't: and are proud of our impotence, too.

The History of Pendennis (1848)

As the gambler said of his dice, to love and win is the best thing, to love and lose is the next best.

The History of Pendennis (1848)

When a man is in love with one woman in a family, it is astonishing how fond he becomes of every person connected with it.

The Virginians (1857)

We love being in love, that's the truth on't.

The History of Henry Esmond (1852)

If there is no love more in yonder heart, it is but a corpse unburied.

The Virginians (1857)

People hate, as they love, unreasonably.

The Newcomes (1854)

Novels are sweets. All people with healthy literary appetites love them—almost all women;—a vast number of clever, hard-headed men.

Roundabout Papers (1863)

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.

We are most of us very lonely in the world. You who have any who love you, cling to them, and thank God.

Lovel the Widower (1860)

Thus love makes fools of all of us, big and little

The History of Pendennis (1848)

Werther had a love for Charlotte
Such as words could never utter;
Would you know how first he met her?
She was cutting bread and butter.

Ballads (1855)

Then sing as Martin Luther sang,
As Doctor Martin Luther sang:
“Who loves not wine, woman and song,
He is a fool his whole life long!”

Ballads (1855)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Makepeace Thackeray (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.