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    Fielding, Henry


We are as liable to be corrupted by our books as by our companions.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
“A Fragment of a Comment on Lord Bolingbroke’s Essays” (1755)
 
Added on 8-Sep-16 | Last updated 8-Sep-16
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There are two considerations which always imbitter the heart of an avaricious man — the one is a perpetual thirst after more riches, the other the prospect of leaving what he has already acquired.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
(Attributed)

Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou, Treasury of Thought (1884)
 
Added on 19-May-14 | Last updated 19-May-14
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Handsome is that handsome does.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
A History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Book 4, ch. 12 (1749)
 
Added on 23-May-14 | Last updated 23-May-14
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Guilt hath very quick ears to an accusation.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
Amelia, ch. 11 (1751)
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Added on 8-Jun-17 | Last updated 8-Jun-17
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At the Conclusion of my last Paper, I asserted that the Summary of Good Breeding was no other than that comprehensive and exalted Rule, which the greatest Authority hath told is is the Sum Total of all Religion and all Morality.

Here, however, my Readers will be pleased to observe that the subject Matter of good Breeding being only what is called Behavior, it is this only to which we are to apply it on the present Occasion. Perhaps therefore we shall be better understood if we vary the Word, and read it thus: Behave unto all Men, as you would they should be behave unto you.

This will most certainly oblige us to treat all Mankind with the utmost Civility and Respect, there being nothing which we desire more than to be treated so by them.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
Covent Garden Journal, #56 (25 Jul 1752)
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Added on 8-Nov-21 | Last updated 8-Nov-21
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A rich man without charity is a rogue; and perhaps it would be no difficult matter to prove that he is also a fool.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
The Covent-Garden Journal, #44 (2 Jun 1752)
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Added on 8-Jul-14 | Last updated 8-Jul-14
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There is, perhaps, no surer mark of folly, than an attempt to correct the natural infirmities of those we love. The finest composition of human nature, as well as the finest china, may have a flaw in it; and this, I am afraid, in either case, is equally incurable; though, nevertheless, the pattern may remain of the highest value.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Book 2, ch. 7 (1749)
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Added on 24-Feb-23 | Last updated 24-Feb-23
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We should not be too hasty in bestowing either our praise or censure on mankind, since we shall often find such a mixture of good and evil in the same character, that it may require a very accurate judgment and a very elaborate inquiry to determine on which side the balance turns.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great, Vol. 5 (1743)
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Added on 31-Jan-17 | Last updated 31-Jan-17
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He is not genteel, handsome, witty, brave, good-humored, but he is rich, rich, rich, rich, rich — that one word contradicts everything you can say against him.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
The Miser, 3.7 (1733)
 
Added on 10-Oct-13 | Last updated 10-Oct-13
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The slander of some people is as great a recommendation as the praise of others. For one is as much hated by the dissolute world, on the score of virtue, as by the good, on that of vice.

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Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
The Temple Beau, Act 1, sc. 1 (1729)
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Added on 24-Jan-17 | Last updated 24-Jan-17
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