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Truth, 'tis supposed, may bear all lights; and one of those principal lights or natural mediums by which things are to be viewed in order to a thorough recognition is ridicule itself.

— Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury

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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.

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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.