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William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt Quotes

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Famous William Hazlitt Quotes

“What I mean by living to one's-self is living in the world, as in it, not of it: it is as if no one know there was such a person, and you wished no one to know it: it is to be a silent spectator of the mighty scene of things, not an object of attention or curiosity in it; to take a thoughtful, anxious interest in what is passing in the world, but not to feel the slightest inclination to make or meddle with it.”

IfsKnowsWorldFeelsMeanPersonsSelfInterestAttentionObjectsSceneSilentCuriosityPassingPassingsThoughtfulAnxiousInclinationSpectators
Book:Table-talk: Or Original Essays
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“However we may flatter ourselves to the contrary, our friends think no higher of us than the world do. They see us through the jaundiced or distrustful eyes of others. They may know better, but their feelings are governed by popular prejudice. Nay, they are more shy of us (when under a cloud) than even strangers; for we involve them in a common disgrace, or compel them to embroil themselves in continual quarrels and disputes in our defense.”

ThinkingKnowsWorldMayFeelingsEyeCommonHigherPrejudiceCloudsStrangerDefenseContraryShyDisputesQuarrelsDisgrace
Book:Liber Amoris and Related Writings
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“Silence is one great art of conversation. He is not a fool who knows when to hold his tongue; and a person may gain credit for sense, eloquence, wit, who merely says nothing to lessen the opinion which others have of these qualities in themselves.”

KnowsMayPersonsArtSilenceQualityOpinionFoolConversationGainsCreditTongueWitSilence IsGreat ArtEloquenceArt Of Conversation
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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“There is nothing so remote from vanity as true genius. It is almost as natural for those who are endowed with the highest powers of the human mind to produce the miracles of art, as for other men to breathe or move. Correggio, who is said to have produced some of his divinest works almost without having seen a picture, probably did not know that he had done anything extraordinary.”

KnowsMenMindHumansArtSaidDoneMovingNaturalProduceGeniusHighestMiracleExtraordinaryBreatheVanityHuman MindTrue Genius
Book:The Round Table. A collection of Essays ... By W. H. and Leigh Hunt
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“I am not, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, a good-natured man; that is, many things annoy me besides what interferes with my own ease and interest. I hate a lie; a piece of injustice wounds me to the quick, though nothing but the report of it reach me. Therefore I have made many enemies and few friends; for the public know nothing of well-wishers, and keep a wary eye on those who would reform them.”

KnowsMenWellsMadeEyeLyingHateTermInterestMy OwnEnemyPiecesOrdinaryI HateInjusticeWoundsReformEaseReportsAnnoyingInterfereFew Friends
Book:The plain speaker: opinions on books, men, and things [by W. Hazlitt].
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“I maintain that there is no common language or medium of understanding between people of education and without it - between those who judge of things from books or from their senses. Ignorance has so far the advantage over learning; for it can make an appeal to you from what you know; but you cannot re-act upon it through that which it is a perfect stranger to. Ignorance is, therefore, power.”

PeopleKnowsBookLanguageUnderstandingPerfectCommonIgnoranceJudgingAdvantageStrangerSensesMediumsAppealsCommon LanguagePerfect StrangersThose Who Judge
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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