Quote collection
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"Criticism, though dignified from the earliest ages by the labours of men eminent for knowledge and sagacity, has not yet attained the certainty and stability of science."
"It is advantageous to an author that his book should be attacked as well as praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it be struck at one end of the room, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends."
"There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we still have the power of ingratiating ourselves with the fair sex."
"Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content."
"A fellow will hack half a year at a block of marble to make something in stone that hardly resembles a man. The value of statuary is owing to its difficulty. You would not value the finest head cut upon a carrot."
"The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book."
"Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble."
"It is very common for us to desire most what we are least qualified to obtain."
"To forget, or pretend to do so, to return a borrowed article, is the meanest sort of petty theft."
"Timidity is a disease of the mind, obstinate and fatal; for a man once persuaded that any impediment is insuperable has given it, with respect to himself, that strength and weight which it had not before."
"Among many parallels which men of imagination have drawn between the natural and moral state of the world, it has been observed that happiness as well as virtue consists in mediocrity."
"Beauty, without kindness, dies unenjoyed and undelighting."
"Friends are often chosen for similitude of manners, and therefore each palliates the other's failings because they are his own."
"The limbs will quiver and move after the soul is gone."
"Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is repaid in flattery."
"There are charms made only for distant admiration."
"I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature, to make any man's virtues the means of deceiving him."
"The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it."
"To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship."
"Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable."