Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“Philip of Pokanoket : An Indian Memoir,” The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–20)
Sometimes presented in a longer form: "Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them." This version, as quoted by Elbert Hubbard, is found as early as 1897, but has not been located in Irving's works.
Quotations by:
Irving, Washington
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“Rip Van Winkle,” The Sketch Book (1820)
There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“The Adventure Of The German Student”
There rise authors now and then, who seem proof against the mutability of language, because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging principles of human nature. They are like gigantic trees that we sometimes see on the banks of a stream; which, by their vast and deep roots, penetrating through the mere surface, and laying hold on the very foundations of the earth, preserve the soil around them from being swept away by the ever-flowing current, and hold up many a neighboring plant, and perhaps worthless weed, to perpetuity.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“The Mutabilities of Literature,” The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819-20)
Whenever a man’s friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
Bracebridge Hall, “Bachelors” (1822)
Sometimes attributed to Mark Twain.
How convenient it would be to many of our great men and great families of doubtful origin, could they have the privilege of the heroes of yore, who, whenever their origin was involved in obscurity, modestly announced themselves descended from a god.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
Knickerbocker’s History of New York, Book 2, ch. 3 (1809)
There is a certain relief to change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have often found in traveling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
Tales of a Traveler, Preface (1824)
The only happy author in this world is he who is below the care of reputation.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
Tales of a Traveler, Part 2 “The Poor-Devil Author” (1824)