Skip to content

'Tis not Wit merely, but a Temper which must form the Well-Bred Man. In the same manner, 'tis not a Head merely, but a Heart and Resolution which must compleat the real Philosopher.

— Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)

Another quote →

More quotes by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury

'Tis the hardest thing in the world to be a good Thinker, without being a strong Self-Examiner.

Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)

Truth is the most powerful thing in the world, since even fiction itself must be governed by it, and can only please by its resemblance.

Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)

How comes it to pass then, that we appear such Cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the Test of Ridicule?

Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)

Through certain humors or passions, and from temper merely, a man may be completely miserable, let his outward circumstances be ever so fortunate.

Day's Collacon : An Encyclopaedia of Prose Quotations (1884)

Men's first thoughts in this matter are generally better than their second; their natural notions better than those refin'd by study, or consultation with casuists.

All Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.