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William Hazlitt
117 quotes
“The slaves of power mind the cause they have to serve, because their own interest is concerned; but the friends of liberty always sacrifice their cause, which is only the cause of humanity, to their own spleen, vanity, and self-opinion.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Review of Lord Byron's Childe Harold in Yellow Dwarf (2 May 1818), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt, ed. A.R. Waller and Arnold Glover (1902-1904)
“Those who aim at faultless regularity will only produce mediocrity, and no one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1819 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thoughts on Taste", Edinburgh Magazine (July 1819), final paragraph
“We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thoughts on Taste," Edinburgh Magazine, (October 1818), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
“Do not keep on with a mockery of friendship after the substance is gone — but part, while you can part friends. Bury the carcass of friendship: it is not worth embalming.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1822 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On The Conduct of Life" (1822), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
“Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the colour in your cheek and the fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your beauty, and your animal spirits, and you will pass for a fine man.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1822 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On The Conduct of Life" (1822)
“You know more of a road by having travelled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1822 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On The Conduct of Life" (1822)
“The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1823 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Common Places," No. 1, The Literary Examiner (September - December 1823), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
“A scholar is like a book written in a dead language — it is not every one that can read in it.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1823 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Common Places," No. 13, The Literary Examiner (September - December 1823)
“I hate to be near the sea, and to hear it roaring and raging like a wild beast in its den. It puts me in mind of the everlasting efforts of the human mind, struggling to be free, and ending just where it began.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1823 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Common Places," No. 60, The Literary Examiner (September - December 1823)
“Mankind are an incorrigible race. Give them but bugbears and idols — it is all that they ask; the distinctions of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, of good and evil, are worse than indifferent to them.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1823 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Common Places," No. 76, The Literary Examiner (September - December 1823)
“Man is a make-believe animal — he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1824 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Notes of a Journey through France and Italy (1824), ch. XVI
“If a person has no delicacy, he has you in his power, for you necessarily feel some towards him; and since he will take no denial, you must comply with his peremptory demands, or send for a constable, which out of respect for his character you will not do.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On The Want Of Money," Monthly Magazine (January 1827), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
“Belief is with them mechanical, voluntary: they believe what they are paid for — they swear to that which turns to account. Do you suppose, that after years spent in this manner, they have any feeling left answering to the difference between truth and falsehood?”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1828 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Modern Gradus ad Parnassum," London Weekly Review (17 May 1828), reprinted in New Writings by William Hazlitt (1925), edited by P. P. Howe
“The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness, than the destruction of millions of our fellow-beings.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1829 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: American Literature — Dr. Channing," Edinburgh Review, (October 1829), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
“The origin of all science is in the desire to know causes; and the origin of all false science and imposture is in the desire to accept false causes rather than none; or, which is the same thing, in the unwillingness to acknowledge our own ignorance.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1829 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Burke and the Edinburgh Phrenologists in The Atlas (15 February 1829); reprinted in New Writings by William Hazlitt, William Hazlitt and Percival Presland Howe (ed.), (2nd edition, 1925), p. 117; also reprinted in The C…
“When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1830 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On The Spirit of Controversy," The Atlas (30 January 1830), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
“Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1830 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sick Chamber," The New Monthly Magazine (August 1830), reprinted in Essays of William Hazlitt, selected and edited by Frank Carr (London, 1889)
“Well, I've had a happy life.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1830 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Last words (18 September 1830), quoted by his grandson, William Carew Hazlitt, in Memoirs of William Hazlitt (1867) vol. II, p. 238
“General principles are not the less true or important because, from their nature they elude immediate observation; they are like the air, which is not the less necessary because we neither see nor feel it, or like that secret influence which binds the world together and holds the planets in their orbits.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The perfect joys of heaven do not satisfy the cravings of nature.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1813 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Literary Character" (28 October 1813)
“They are the only honest hypocrites. Their life is a voluntary dream; a studied madness.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1817 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Actors and Acting" (The Examiner, 5 January 1817)
“Grace has been defined the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Grace in women has more effect than beauty.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Grace is the absence of every thing that indicates pain or difficulty, or hesitation or incongruity.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All that is worth remembering in life, is the poetry of it.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for poetry, cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The poetical impression of any object is that uneasy, exquisite sense of beauty or power that cannot be contained within itself; that is impatient of all limit; that (as flame bends to flame) strives to link itself to some other image of kindred beauty or grandeur; to enshrine itself, as it were, in the highest forms of fancy, and to relieve the aching sense of pleasure by expressing it in the boldest manner, and by the most striking examples of the same quality in other instances.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The characteristic of Chaucer is intensity; of Spenser, remoteness; of Milton, elevation; of Shakespeare, every thing.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The temple of fame stands upon the grave: the flame that burns upon its altars is kindled from the ashes of dead men.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He talked on for ever; and you wished him to talk on for ever.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The love of fame, as it enters at times into his mind, is only another name for the love of excellence; or it is the ambition to attain the highest excellence, sanctioned by the highest authority — that of time.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Tory is one who is governed by sense and habit alone. He considers not what is possible, but what is real; he gives might the preference over right. He cries long life to the conqueror, and is ever strong upon the stronger side — the side of corruption and prerogative.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who make their dress a principal part of themselves, will, in general, become of no more value than their dress.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Clerical Character" (January/February 1818)
“It is hard for any one to be an honest politician who is not born and bred a Dissenter.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Court-Influence" (January 3/January 10, 1818)
“We are all of us more or less the slaves of opinion.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Court-Influence" (January 3/January 10, 1818)
“The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anyone must be mainly ignorant or thoughtless, who is surprised at everything he sees; or wonderfully conceited who expects everything to conform to his standard of propriety.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some one is generally sure to be the sufferer by a joke.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Wit is, in fact, the eloquence of indifference.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Though familiarity may not breed contempt, it takes off the edge of admiration.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hope is the best possession. None are completely wretched but those who are without hope; and few are reduced so low as that.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Death is the greatest evil, because it cuts off hope.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The confession of our failings is a thankless office. It savors less of sincerity or modesty than of ostentation. It seems as if we thought our weaknesses as good as other people's virtues.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are names written in her immortal scroll, at which FAME blushes!”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test; for it is on that on which our success in life depends.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our friends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please — that is as they please or displease us.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is well that there is no one without a fault; for he would not have a friend in the world.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) said by 1830 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source