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Charles Caleb Colton

Charles Caleb Colton Quotes

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Famous Charles Caleb Colton Quotes

“Hypocrites act by virtue.... They frame many counterfeits of her, with which they make an ostentatious parade, in all public assemblies, and processions; but the original of what they counterfeit, and which may indeed be said to have fallen from heaven, they produce so seldom, that it is cankered by the rust of sloth, and useless from non-application.”

MaySaidHeavenVirtueProduceOriginalsUselessFallenHypocrisyApplicationHypocriteAssemblyParadesSlothRustCounterfeitProcessionOstentatious
Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“Princes rule the people, and their own passions rule Princes; but Providence can over-rule the whole, and draw the instruments of his inscrutable purposes from the vices, no less than the virtues of Kings.”

PeopleWholePurposePassionVirtueKingsDrawsInstrumentsVicesProvidenceInscrutable
Book:Lord Chesterfield's advice to his son on men and manners. To which are added, selections from Colton's 'Lacon'.
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“There is but one pursuit in life which it is in the power of all to follow, and of all to attain. It is subject to no disappointments, since he that perseveres, makes every difficulty an advancement, and every contest a victory; and this is the pursuit of virtue.”

VirtueSubjectsVictoryDifficultyDisappointmentPursuitContestsAdvancementPersevere
Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“Honesty is not only the deepest policy, but the highest wisdom; since, however difficult it may be for integrity to get on, it is a thousand times more difficult for knavery to get off; and no error is more fatal than that of those who think that Virtue has no other reward because they have heard that she is her own.”

ThinkingMayDifficultVirtueHeardHonestyPolicyIntegrityThousandHighestErrorsRewardsKnavery
Book:Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“It has been shrewdly said, that when, men abuse us we should suspect ourselves, and when they praise us, them. It is a rare instance of virtue to despise which censure which we do not deserve; and still more rare to despise praise which we do.”

MenShouldHas BeensSaidStillsVirtueDeserveAbusePraiseInstanceSuspectsDespiseCensure
Book:Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think
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“That an author's work is the mirror of his mind is a position that has led to very false conclusions. If Satan himself were to write a book it would be in praise of virtue, because the good would purchase it for use, and the bad for ostentation.”

IfsWritingMindBookUseWould BeVirtuePositionPraiseMirrorsConclusionSatanAuthorshipOstentation
Book:Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“Natural good is' so intimately connected with moral good, and natural evil with moral evil, that I am as certain as if I heard a voice from heaven proclaim it, that God is on the side of virtue. He has learnt much, and has not lived in vain, who has practically discovered that most strict and necessary connection, that does and will ever exist between vice and misery, and virtue and happiness.”

IfsDoeCertainEvilHeavenSidesVoiceNaturalMoralVirtueHeardGoodnessConnectionsMiseryVicesConnectedVainStrictVirtue And HappinessMoral Evil
Book:Remarks on the Talents of Lord Byron and the Tendencies of Don Juan
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“Emulation has been termed a spur to virtue, and assumes to be a spur of gold. But it is a spur composed of baser materials, and if tried in the furnace will be found to want that fixedness which is the characteristic of gold. He that pursues virtue, only to surpass others, is not far from wishing others less forward than himself; and he that rejoices too much at his own perfections will be too little grieved at the defects of other men.”

IfsMenWantLittlesHas BeensFoundWishVirtueToo MuchMaterialsPerfectionGoldAssumingPursueCharacteristicsRejoiceDefectsSpursFurnacesEmulation
Book:Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think
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“We cannot think too highly of our nature, nor too humbly of ourselves. When we see the martyr to virtue, subject as he is to the infirmities of a man, yet suffering the tortures of a demon, and bearing them with the magnanimity of a God, do we not behold a heroism that angels may indeed surpass, but which they cannot imitate, and must admire.”

ThinkingMenMaySufferingVirtueSubjectsHumilityAngelAdmireTortureDemonHeroismMartyrInfirmityMagnanimity
Book:Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“He that has energy enough in his constitution to root out a vice should go a little further, and try to plant a virtue in its place; otherwise he will have his labor to renew. A strong soil that has produced weeds may be made to produce wheat with far less difficulty than it would cost to make it produce nothing.”

ShouldTryingMayLittlesMadeEnoughEnergyStrongVirtueProduceCostLaborRootsConstitutionDifficultyPlantVicesSoilWeedWheat
Author:Charles Caleb Colton
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“It is in the middle classes of society that all the finest feeling, and the most amiable propensities of our nature do principally nourish and abound. For the good opinion of our fellow-men is the strongest though not the purest motive to virtue. The privations of poverty render us too cold and callous, and the privileges of property too arrogant and confidential, to feel; the first places us beneath the influence of opinion--the second, above it.”

MenFeelsFirstsFeelingsOpinionClassPovertyVirtueSocietyInfluenceMiddleColdFellowsPropertyPrivilegeMotiveMiddle ClassStrongestArrogantFinestFellow ManPropensityAmiableCallousConfidentialClasses Of Society
Author:Charles Caleb Colton
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“Those who have resources within themselves, who can dare to live alone, want friends the least, but, at the same time, best know how to prize them the most. But no company is far preferable to bad, because we are more apt to catch the vices of others than their virtues, as disease is far more contagious than health.”

KnowsWantCompanyKnow HowVirtueSocietyDiseaseResourcesVicesDarePrizeContagious
Book:Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think
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