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There is Humilitas quaedam in Vitio [humility taken to a fault]. If a Man does not take notice of that excellency and perfection that is in himself, how can he be thankful to God, who is the Author of all excellency and perfection?

— John Selden

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More quotes by John Selden

Wise men say nothing in dangerous times.

Table Talk (1689)

Take a straw and throw it up into the air — you may see by that which way the wind is.

Table Talk (1689)

A king is a thing men have made for their own sakes, for quietness' sake. Just as in a family one man is appointed to buy the meat.

Table Talk (1689)

Humility is a virtue all preach, none practise, and yet every body is content to hear.

Table Talk: Being the Discourses (1786)

Few men make themselves masters of the things they write or speak.

Table Talk (1689)

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Men accept servility in order to acquire wealth; as if they could acquire anything of their own when they cannot even assert that they belong to themselves.

Étienne de La Boétie Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (1548)

The confusion of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error.

George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman (1903)

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis God in the Dock (1970)

Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins.

Horace Mann Thoughts Selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1867)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Selden (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.