William Hazlitt Quotes
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Learning is its own exceeding great reward; and at the period of which we speak, it bore other fruits, not unworthy of it.
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Poverty is the test of civility and the touchstone of friendship.
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Many a man would have turned rogue if he knew how.
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You will hear more good things on the outside of a stagecoach from London to Oxford than if you were to pass a twelvemonth with the undergraduates, or heads of colleges, of that famous university.
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The expression of a gentleman's face is not so much that of refinement, as of flexibility, not of sensibility and enthusiasm as of indifference; it argues presence of mind rather than enlargement of ideas.
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We must overact our part in some measure, in order to produce any effect at all.
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One said he wondered that leather was not dearer than any other thing. Being demanded a reason: because, saith he, it is more stood upon than any other thing in the world.
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Sincerity has to do with the connexion between our words and thoughts, and not between our beliefs and actions.
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A man knows his companion in a long journey and a little inn.
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An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may.
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We grow tired of everything but turning others into ridicule, and congratulating ourselves on their defects.
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The greatest grossness sometimes accompanies the greatest refinement, as a natural relief.
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Malice often takes the garb of truth.
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Fashion is the abortive issue of vain ostentation and exclusive egotism ... tied to no rule, and bound to conform to every whim of the minute.
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I'm not smart, but I like to observe. Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.
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Hope is the best possession. None are completely wretched but those who are without hope. Few are reduced so low as that.
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Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me, and a three hours' march to dinner - and then to thinking! ... I begin to feel, think, and be myself again. Instead of an awkward silence, broken by attempts at wit or dull common-places, mine is that undisturbed silence of the heart which alone is perfect eloquence.
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Honesty is one part of eloquence. We persuade others by being in earnest ourselves.
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To the proud the slightest repulse or disappointment is the last indignity.
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The vain man makes a merit of misfortune, and triumphs in his disgrace.
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A distinction has been made between acuteness and subtlety of understanding. This might be illustrated by saying that acuteness consists in taking up the points or solid atoms, subtlety in feeling the air of truth.
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I am proud up to the point of equality; everything above or below that appears to me arrant impertinence or abject meanness.
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An orator can hardly get beyond commonplaces: if he does he gets beyond his hearers.
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The silence of a friend commonly amounts to treachery. His not daring to say anything in our behalf implies a tacit censure.