William Hazlitt Quotes
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Every man, in his own opinion, forms an exception to the ordinary rules of morality.
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We can scarcely hate anyone that we know.
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By conversing with the mighty dead, we imbibe sentiment with knowledge. We become strongly attached to those who can no longer either hurt or serve us, except through the influence which they exert over the mind. We feel the presence of that power which gives immortality to human thoughts and actions, and catch the flame of enthusiasm from all nations and ages.
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Even in the common affairs of life, in love, friendship, and marriage, how little security have we when we trust our happiness in the hands of others!
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There is a feeling of Eternity in youth which makes us amends for everything. To be young is to be as one of the Immortals.
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One is always more vexed at losing a game of any sort by a single hole or ace, than if one has never had a chance of winning it.
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Persons who undertake to pry into, or cleanse out all the filth of a common sewer, either cannot have very nice noses, or will soon lose them.
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Reflection makes men cowards.
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Men are in numberless instances qualified for certain things, for no other reason than because they are qualified for nothing else.
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Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity.
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I like a friend the better for having faults that one can talk about.
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A strong passion for any object will ensure success, for the desire of the end will point out the means.
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The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
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The ignorance of the world leaves one at the mercy of its malice.
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To write a genuine familiar or truly English style is to write as anyone would speak in common conversation, who had a thorough command and choice of words, or who could discourse with ease, force, and perspicuity, setting aside all pedantic and oratorical flourishes.
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We do not like our friends the worse because they sometimes give us an opportunity to rail at them heartily. Their faults reconcile us to their virtues.
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Those who wish to forget painful thoughts do well to absent themselves for a while from, the ties and objects that recall them; but we can be said only to fulfill our destiny in the place that gave us birth.
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We are all of us, more or less, the slaves of opinion.
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Our lives are ruled by impermanence. The challenge is how to create something of enduring value within the context of our impermanent lives. Soka Gakkai Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts.
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A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
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With women, the great business of life is love; and they generally make a mistake in it. They consult neither the heart nor the head, but are led away by mere humour and fancy. If instead of a companion for life, they had to choose a partner in a country-dance or to trifle away an hour with, their mode of calculation would be right. They tie their true-lover's knot with idle, thoughtless haste, while the institutions of society render it indissoluble.
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The world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
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The affected modesty of most women is a decoy for the generous, the delicate, and unsuspecting; while the artful, the bold, and unfeeling either see or break through its slender disguises.
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They are the only honest hypocrites, their life is a voluntary dream, a studied madness.