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Benjamin Disraeli

303 quotes

“Sybil, or The Two Nations (1845).”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cathedral High Mass. Clouds of incense and one of Mozart's sublimest masses by an orchestra before which San Carlo might grow pale. The effect inconceivably grand. The host raised, and I flung myself on the ground.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary entry while in Ghent (1 August 1824), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 49
“[I]n speaking of Italy, romance has omitted for once to exaggerate.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Isaac Disraeli (2 September 1826), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 104
“Venice by moonlight is an enchanted city; the floods of silver light upon the moresco architecture, the perfect absence of all harsh sounds of carts and carriages, the never-ceasing music on the waters, produced an effect on the mind which cannot be experienced, I am sure, in any other city in the world.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Isaac Disraeli (c. 8 September 1826), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume. I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 108
“I declare that England, with all her imperfections, is worth all the world together, and I hope it is not misanthropy when I feel that I love lakes and mountains better than courts and cities, and trees better than men.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Isaac Disraeli (10 October 1826), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 113
“I suppose, to use our national motto, something will turn up.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Popanilla (1827) Ch. 7 referring to the Motto of "Vraibleusia".
“The microcosm of a public school.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Services in war time are fit only for desperadoes but, in peace, are fit only for fools.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beware of endeavouring to become a great man in a hurry. One such attempt in ten thousand may succeed: these are fearful odds.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hate definitions.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fear makes us feel our humanity.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Experience is the child of Thought, and Thought is the child of Action. We can not learn men from books.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Variety is the mother of Enjoyment.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is moderation even in excess.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In politics nothing is contemptible.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man is not the creature of circumstances, circumstances are the creatures of men. We are free agents, and man is more powerful than matter.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I repeat that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that from the people, and for the people all springs, and all must exist.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Benjamin Disraeli (earl Beaconsfield)
“Grief is the agony of an instant; the indulgence of Grief the blunder of a life.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man's fate is his own temper.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A consistent man believes in Destiny — a capricious man in Chance.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like all great travellers I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The disappointment of manhood succeeds to the delusion of youth: let us hope that the heritage of old age is not despair.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Benjamin Disraeli (earl Beaconsfield)
“To govern men, you must either excel them in their accomplishments, or despise them.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his father from Malta (27 August 1830), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 158
“For a week I was in a scene equal to anything in the Arabian Nights—such processions, such dresses, such corteges of horsemen, such caravans of camels. Then the delight of being made much of by a man who was daily decapitating half the Province. Every morning we paid visits, attended reviews, and crammed ourselves with sweetmeats; every evening dancers and singers were sent to our quarters by the Vizier or some Pasha.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Benjamin Austen from Albania (October 1830), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 162
“I am quite a Turk, wear a turban, smoke a pipe six feet long, and squat on a divan. Mehemet Pasha told me that he did not think I was an Englishman because I walked so slow: in fact I find the habits of this calm and luxurious people entirely agree with my own preconceived opinions of propriety and enjoyment, and I detest the Greeks more than ever. You have no idea of the rich and various costume of the Levant. When I was presented to the Grand Vizier I made up such a costume from my heterogeneous wardrobe that the Turks, who are mad on the subject of dress, were utterly astounded.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Benjamin Austen from Albania (October 1830), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 163
“The life of this people greatly accords with my taste, which is naturally somewhat indolent and melancholy... To repose on voluptuous ottomans and smoke superb pipes, daily to indulge in the luxuries of a bath which requires half a dozen attendants for its perfection; to court the air in a carved caïque, by shores which are a perpetual scene; and to find no exertion greater than a canter on a barb; this is, I think, a far more sensible life than all the bustle of clubs, all the boring of drawing-rooms, and all the coarse vulgarity of our political controversies.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Edward Lytton Bulwer from Constantinople, Turkey (27 December 1830), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929…
“I am neither Whig nor Tory. My politics are described by one word, and that word is ENGLAND.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1832 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: England and France; Or, A Cure for the Ministerial Gallomania (1832), p. 13
“I shall withhold my support from every Ministry which will not originate some great measure to ameliorate the condition of the lower orders.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the electors of High Wycombe (1 October 1832), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 221
“I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1832 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Campaign speech at High Wycombe (27 November 1832), quoted in Selected Speeches of the Late Right Honourable the Earl of Beaconsfield, Vol. 1 (1882)
“I come forward as the supporter of that great interest which is the only solid basis of the social fabric, and, convinced that the sound prosperity of this country depends upon the protected industry of the farmer, I would resist that spirit of rash and experimental legislation which is fast hurrying this once glorious Empire to the agony of civil convulsion.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the electors of Buckinghamshire (12 December 1832), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 225
“What is care?" asked the Princess, with a smile. "It is a god", replied the Physician, "invisible, but omnipotent. It steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse — it takes away the appetite, and turns the hair grey".”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Wondrous Tale of Alroy, pt. 5, ch. 5 (1833)
“I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Despair is the conclusion of fools.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Success is the child of audacity.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Rise of Iskander ch. 4 (1833)
“Though lions to their enemies they were lambs to their friends.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1834 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The infernal Marriage, part 2, Chapter 4 (1834)
“Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1834 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Infernal Marriage, part 3 (1834)
“I look upon the Whigs as an anti-national party... Believing that the policy of the party was such as must destroy the honour of the kingdom abroad and the happiness of the people at home, I considered it my duty to oppose the Whigs, to ensure their discomfiture, and, if possible, their destruction.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Taunton (28 April 1835), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume I. 1804–1859 (1929), p. 286
“Yes, I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the right honourable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reply to a taunt by Daniel O'Connell This is probably apocryphal, despite its wide circulation. See the discussion in the comments by scholars who have searched carefully for a source, in "No, Benjamin Disraeli did not …
“The polity of England, which has established the most flourishing society of modern ages, and regulated the destinies of a nation which, for many centuries, has made a progressive advance in the acquisition of freedom, wealth, and glory, undoubtedly presents one of the most interesting subjects of speculation in political philosophy. Nor is it one that has been neglected; and illustrious foreigners have emulated our native authors in their treatises of the English Constitution.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Busied with the tattle of valets and waiting-maids, you accidentally omitted in your Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe all notice of its most vast and most rising empire. This luckless production closed your literary career; you flung down your futile pen in incapable despair; and, your feeble intellect having failed in literature, your strong ambition took refuge in politics.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Letter VII. to Lord John Russell' (30 January 1836), The Letters of Runnymede (1836), p. 56
“Your aim is to reduce every thing to your own mean level—to degrade every thing to your malignant standard... In all your conduct it is not difficult to detect the workings of a mean and long mortified spirit suddenly invested with power,—the struggles of a strong ambition attempting, by a wanton exercise of authority, to revenge the disgrace of a feeble intellect.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Letter VII. to Lord John Russell' (30 January 1836), The Letters of Runnymede (1836), pp. 60-61
“But, my Lord, how thunderstruck must be our visitor when he is told to recognise a Secretary of State in an infinitely small scarabæus;—yes, my Lord, when he learns, that you are the leader of the English House of Commons, our traveller may begin to comprehend how the Egyptians worshipped—AN INSECT.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Letter VII. to Lord John Russell' (30 January 1836), The Letters of Runnymede (1836), p. 64
“This man, O'Connell, is the hired instrument of the Papacy; as such, his mission is to destroy your Protestant Society, and, as such, he is a more terrible enemy to England than Napoleon, with all his inspiration. Your empire and your liberties are in more danger at this moment than when the army of invasion was encamped at Boulogne.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Letter VIII. to the People' (2 February 1836), The Letters of Runnymede (1836), p. 72
“Now we have a precise idea of the political character of O'Connell. And I have often marvelled when I have listened to those who have denounced his hypocrisy or admired his skill, when they have read of the triumphant demagogue humbling himself in the mud before a simple priest. There was no hypocrisy in this, no craft. The agent recognised his principal, the slave bowed before his lord; and when he pressed to his lips those sacred robes, reeking with whisky and redolent of incense, I doubt not that his soul was filled at the same time with unaffected awe and devout gratitude.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Letter VIII. to the People' (2 February 1836), The Letters of Runnymede (1836), pp. 72-73
“Though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maiden speech in the House of Commons (7 December 1837). Disraeli was being shouted down by other MPs. Compare: "I will be heard", William Lloyd Garrison, Salutatory of the Liberator
“Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1839 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Count Alarcos: A Tragedy Act IV, sc. i (1839)
“The fool wonders, the wise man asks.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1839 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Count Alarcos: A Tragedy Act IV, sc. i (1839)
“Every man has a right to be conceited until he is successful.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) first seen 1853 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The 'Advertisement' to the 1853 edition.
“A dark horse, which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grandstand in sweeping triumph.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source