WIST Quotations

Hazlitt, William -- “The Times Newspaper,” Political Essays (1819)

Dave — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:34:08 +0000

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“The Times Newspaper,” Political Essays (1819)

Hazlitt, William -- “American Literature — Dr. Channing” in The Edinburgh Review (Oct 1829)

Dave — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 12:04:14 +0000

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) English writer
“American Literature — Dr. Channing” in The Edinburgh Review (Oct 1829)

Hazlitt, William -- “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review (Oct 1829)

Dave — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:21:24 +0000

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) English writer
“American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review (Oct 1829)

Hazlitt, William -- “Common Places,” #1, The Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Dave — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:51:40 +0000

The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“Common Places,” #1, The Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Hazlitt, William -- “Common Places,” #76, The Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Dave — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:37:53 +0000

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) English writer
“Common Places,” #76, The Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Hazlitt, William -- “Common Places” (1), Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Dave — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:13:43 +0000

The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“Common Places” (1), Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Hazlitt, William -- “Common Places” (22), Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Dave — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 15:09:11 +0000

Abuse is an indirect species of homage.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“Common Places” (22), Literary Examiner (Sep-Dec 1823)

Hazlitt, William -- “On Actors and Acting,” “The Round Table” column, The Examiner (5 Jan 1817)

Dave — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:30:17 +0000

They are the only honest hypocrites. Their life is a voluntary dream; a studied madness.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On Actors and Acting,” “The Round Table” column, The Examiner (5 Jan 1817)

Hazlitt, William -- “On Court-Influence” (3-10 Jan 1818) Political Essays (1819)

Dave — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:06:58 +0000

We are all of us more or less the slaves of opinion.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On Court-Influence” (3-10 Jan 1818) Political Essays (1819)

Hazlitt, William -- “On Manner,” The Round Table (1817)

Dave — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:19:52 +0000

More undertakings fail for want of spirit than for want of sense. Confidence gives a fool the advantage over a wise man.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On Manner,” The Round Table (1817)

Hazlitt, William -- “On Manners,” The Round Table (1817)

Dave — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:36:32 +0000

More undertakings fail for want of spirit than for want of sense.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On Manners,” The Round Table (1817)

Hazlitt, William -- “On Respectable People,” Table Talk (1822)

Dave — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:13:17 +0000

They would not get a scratch with a pin to save the universe. They are more affected by the overturning of a plate of turtle soup than by the starving of a whole country.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On Respectable People,” Table Talk (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- “On Taste,” Sketches and Essays (1839)

Dave — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:24:07 +0000

No one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On Taste,” Sketches and Essays (1839)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Causes of Methodism,” The Round Table (1817)

Dave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:12:18 +0000

Almost every sect of Christianity is a perversion of its essence, to accommodate it to the prejudices of the world.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On the Causes of Methodism,” The Round Table (1817)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Clerical Character,” Conclusion (7 Feb 1818)

Dave — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:01:11 +0000

The garb of religion is the best cloak for power.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On the Clerical Character,” Conclusion (7 Feb 1818)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Clerical Character” (January/February 1818), Political Essays (1819)

Dave — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:58:34 +0000

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) English writer
“On the Clerical Character” (January/February 1818), Political Essays (1819)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Conduct of Life,” Literary Remains (1836)

Dave — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 13:01:41 +0000

It is the vice of scholars to suppose that there is no knowledge in the world but that of books.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On the Conduct of Life,” Literary Remains (1836)

Hazlitt, William -- “On The Conduct of Life” (1822)

Dave — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:48:05 +0000

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) English writer
“On The Conduct of Life” (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- “On The Conduct of Life” (1822)

Dave — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:00:45 +0000

You know more of a road by having travelled it then by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On The Conduct of Life” (1822)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- “On The Conduct of Life” (1822)

Dave — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:19:03 +0000

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) English writer
“On The Conduct of Life” (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Conversation of Lords,” Sketches and Essays (1829)

Dave — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:07:48 +0000

Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On the Conversation of Lords,” Sketches and Essays (1829)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Love of Life,” “The Round Table” column, The Examiner (15 Jan 1815)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On the Love of Life,” “The Round Table” column, The Examiner (15 Jan 1815)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- “On The Spirit of Controversy,” The Atlas (30 Jan 1830)

Dave — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:48:26 +0000

When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On The Spirit of Controversy,” The Atlas (30 Jan 1830)

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Tendency of Sects,” “The Round Table” column, The Examiner

Dave — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:12:43 +0000

There is, however, no prejudice so strong as that which arises from a fancied exemption from all prejudice.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“On the Tendency of Sects,” “The Round Table” column, The Examiner

Hazlitt, William -- “On The Want Of Money,” Monthly Magazine (Jan 1827)

Dave — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:39:48 +0000

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) English writer
“On The Want Of Money,” Monthly Magazine (Jan 1827)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- “The Sick Chamber,” The New Monthly Magazine (August 1830)

Dave — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:49:28 +0000

Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“The Sick Chamber,” The New Monthly Magazine (August 1830)

Hazlitt, William -- “The Times Newspaper” Political Essays (1819)

Dave — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:37:32 +0000

The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“The Times Newspaper” Political Essays (1819)

Hazlitt, William -- “Thoughts on Taste,” Edinburgh Magazine (1819-07)

Dave — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 21:42:28 +0000

It is erroneous to tie down individual genius to ideal models. Each person should do that, not which is best in itself, even supposing this could be known, but that which he can do best, which he will find out if left to himself. Spenser could not have written Paradise Lost, nor Milton the Faerie Queene. 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) English writer
“Thoughts on Taste,” Edinburgh Magazine (1819-07)

Hazlitt, William -- “Thoughts on Taste,” Edinburgh Magazine (Oct 1818)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:38:01 +0000

We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
“Thoughts on Taste,” Edinburgh Magazine (Oct 1818)

Hazlitt, William -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it; who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
(Attributed)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims (1823)

Dave — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 17:27:16 +0000

Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims (1823)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims, #188 (1837 ed.)

Dave — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 18:36:23 +0000

If we use no ceremony towards others, we shall be treated without any. People are soon tired of paying trifling attentions to those who receive them with coldness, and return them with neglect.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims, #188 (1837 ed.)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims, #387 (1823)

Dave — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:06:37 +0000

An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault’s Maxims, #387 (1823)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, # 140 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:51:02 +0000

We find many things to which the prohibition of them constitutes the only temptation.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, # 140 (1823)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, # 241 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:32:13 +0000

To think ill of mankind and not wish ill to them, is perhaps the highest wisdom and virtue.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, # 241 (1823)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, # 421 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:53:45 +0000

We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, # 421 (1823)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, #302 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:46:07 +0000

If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, #302 (1823)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, #305 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:35:21 +0000

Every man, in his own opinion, forms an exception to the ordinary rules of morality.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, #305 (1823)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, #333 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:36:56 +0000

The true barbarian is he who thinks every thing barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, #333 (1823)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, #388 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:56:37 +0000

Those only deserve a monument who do not need one; that is, who have raised themselves a monument in the minds and memories of men.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, #388 (1823)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, #401 (1823)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

He will never have true friends who is afraid of making enemies.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Characteristics, #401 (1823)

Hazlitt, William -- Characteristics, #66 (1823)

Dave — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:58:09 +0000

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) English writer
Characteristics, #66 (1823)

Full text here and here.

Hazlitt, William -- Lectures on English Poets, #1 “On Poetry in General” (1818)

Dave — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:22:44 +0000

All that is worth remembering in life, is the poetry of it.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Lectures on English Poets, #1 “On Poetry in General” (1818)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Lectures on the English Comic Writers, “On Wit and Humour” (1819)

Dave — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:02:02 +0000

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) English writer
Lectures on the English Comic Writers, “On Wit and Humour” (1819)

Hazlitt, William -- Lectures on the English Comic Writers, Lecture 1 “On Wit and Humour” (1819)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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) English writer
Lectures on the English Comic Writers, Lecture 1 “On Wit and Humour” (1819)

Sometimes altered to end "... and what they might have been."

Hazlitt, William -- Lectures on the English Poets, “On Swift, Young, Gray, Collins &c.” (1818).

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

There is nothing more likely to drive a man mad, than the being unable to get rid of the idea of the distinction between right and wrong, and an obstinate, constitutional preference of the true to the agreeable.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Lectures on the English Poets, “On Swift, Young, Gray, Collins &c.” (1818).

Hazlitt, William -- Men and Manners, “On Cant and Hypocrisy” (1852)

Dave — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:28:58 +0000

The mind of man is like a clock that is always running down, and requires to be as constantly wound up.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Cant and Hypocrisy” (1852)

Hazlitt, William -- Men and Manners, “On Prejudice” (1852)

Dave — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:35:17 +0000

Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my way across the room; nor know how to conduct myself in any circumstances, nor what to feel in any relation of life.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Prejudice” (1852)

Hazlitt, William -- Men and Manners, “On Prejudice” (1852)

Dave — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 12:08:57 +0000

We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Prejudice” (1852)

Hazlitt, William -- Notes of a Journey through France and Italy, ch. 16 (1824)

Dave — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:51:52 +0000

Man is a make-believe animal — he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Notes of a Journey through France and Italy, ch. 16 (1824)

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners, “On Corporate Bodies” (1821-22)

Dave — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:20:37 +0000

Corporate bodies are more corrupt and profligate than individuals, because they have more power to do mischief, and are less amenable to disgrace or punishment. They feel neither shame, remorse, gratitude, nor goodwill.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners, “On Corporate Bodies” (1821-22)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners, “On Living to One’s-Self” (1821-22)

Dave — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:57:54 +0000

There is not a more mean, stupid, dastardly, pitiful, selfish, spiteful, envious, ungrateful animal than the Public. It is the greatest of cowards, for it is afraid of itself.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners, “On Living to One’s-Self” (1821-22)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays on Men And Manners, “On Paradox and Common-Place” (1821-1822)

Dave — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:41:36 +0000

It has been the resolution of mankind in all ages of the world. No people, no age, ever threw away the fruits of past wisdom, or the enjoyment of present blessings, for visionary schemes of ideal perfection. It is the knowledge of the past, the actual infliction of the present, that has produced all changes, all innovations, and all improvements — not (as is pretended) the chimerical anticipation of possible advantages, but the intolerable pressure of long-established, notorious, aggravated, and growing abuses.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays on Men And Manners, “On Paradox and Common-Place” (1821-1822)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners, “On the Fear of Death” (1821-1822)

Dave — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:28:27 +0000

Perhaps the best cure for the fear of death is to reflect that life has a beginning as well as an end. There was a time when we were not: this gives us no concern — why then should it trouble us that a time will come when we shall cease to be?

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners, “On the Fear of Death” (1821-1822)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners, “On the Ignorance of the Learned” (1821-22)

Dave — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:31:17 +0000

If we wish to know the force of human genius, we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning, we may study his commentators.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners, “On the Ignorance of the Learned” (1821-22)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners, “On the Knowledge of character” (1821-1822)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:56:06 +0000

Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays on Men and Manners, “On the Knowledge of character” (1821-1822)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners, “On the Pleasure of Painting” (1821-1822)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:30:05 +0000

Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners, “On the Pleasure of Painting” (1821-1822)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk, “On Novelty and Familiarity” (1822)

Dave — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 12:34:35 +0000

The last pleasure in life is the sense of discharging our duty.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk, “On Novelty and Familiarity” (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk, “On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority” (1822)

Dave — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:44:46 +0000

Ignorance of the world leaves one at the mercy of its malice.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk, “On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority” (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk, “On the Pleasure of Painting” (1821-22)

Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 15:32:40 +0000

Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk, “On the Pleasure of Painting” (1821-22)

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk, “On the Qualifications Necessary to Success in Life” (1822)

Dave — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 17:28:41 +0000

In love, in war, in conversation, in business, confidence and resolution are the principal things.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk, “On the Qualifications Necessary to Success in Life” (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk, “On the Want of Money” (1822)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 13:04:25 +0000

Literally and truly, one cannot get on well in the world without money. To be in want of it, is to pass through life with little credit or pleasure; it is to live out of the world, or to be despised if you come into it …; it is to be scrutinized by strangers, and neglected by friends; it is to be a thrall to circumstances, an exile in one’s own country.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk, “On the Want of Money” (1822)

Hazlitt, William -- Table Talk, “The Indian Jugglers” (1821-22)

Dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:34:20 +0000

No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Table Talk, “The Indian Jugglers” (1821-22)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- The Plain Speaker, “On the Pleasure of Hating” (1826)

Dave — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:55:22 +0000

If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
The Plain Speaker, “On the Pleasure of Hating” (1826)

Hazlitt, William -- The Plain Speaker, “On the Qualifications Necessary for Success” (1826)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The surest hindrance of success is to have too high a standard of refinement in our own minds, or too high an opinion of the judgment of the public. He who is determined not to be satisfied with anything short of perfection will never do anything to please himself or others.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
The Plain Speaker, “On the Qualifications Necessary for Success” (1826)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- The Round Table, ch. 32 “On Religious Hypocrisy” (1817)

Dave — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:00:19 +0000

Religion either makes men wise and virtuous, or it makes them set up false pretences to both.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
The Round Table, ch. 32 “On Religious Hypocrisy” (1817)

Full text.

Hazlitt, William -- Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7

Dave — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:02:35 +0000

The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7