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William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt Quotes

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Famous William Hazlitt Quotes

“When we hear complaints of the wretchedness or vanity of human life, the proper answer to them would be that there is hardly any one who at some point or other has not been in love. If we consider the high abstraction of this feeling, its depth, its purity, its voluptuous refinement, even in the meanest breast, how sacred and how sweet it is, this alone may reconcile us to the lot of humanity. That drop of balm turns the bitter cup to a delicious nectar.”

IfsLoveHumansMayFeelingsWould BeHumanityTurnsAnswersSweetSacredDepthBitterCupsVanityHuman LifePurityBreastsComplaintsDeliciousAbstractionReconcileRefinementBeen In LoveWretchednessNectarVoluptuous
Book:The Round Table. A collection of Essays ... By W. H. and Leigh Hunt
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“Any woman may act the part of a coquette successfully who has the reputation without the scruples of modesty. If a woman passes the bounds of propriety for our sakes, and throws herself unblushingly at our heads, we conclude it is either from a sudden and violent liking, or from extraordinary merit on our parts, either of which is enough to turn any man's head who has a single spark of gallantry or vanity in his composition.”

IfsMenMayEnoughTurnsWomenExtraordinaryBoundsSakeViolentReputationVanityMeritSparksModestyCompositionProprietyScruplesGallantryCoquette
Author:William Hazlitt
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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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“We cannot by a little verbal sophistry confound the qualities of different minds, nor force opposite excellences into a union by all the intolerance in the world. If we have a taste for some one precise style or manner, we may keep it to ourselves and let others have theirs. If we are more catholic in our notions, and want variety of excellence and beauty, it is spread abroad for us to profusion in the variety of books and in the several growth of men's minds, fettered by no capricious or arbitrary rules.”

IfsMenWorldWantMindMayLittlesBookDifferentForceGrowthQualityStyleTasteOppositesCatholicUnionsExcellenceNotionSpreadVarietyIntolerancePreciseArbitraryCapriciousSophistryDifferent Minds
Author:William Hazlitt
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“Art is the microscope of the mind, which sharpens the wit as the other does the sight; and converts every object into a little universe in itself. Art may be said to draw aside the veil from nature. To those who are perfectly unskilled in the practice, unimbued with the principles of art, most objects present only a confused mass.”

MindMayLittlesDoeArtSaidUniversePrinciplesPracticeObjectsMassDrawsArt IsSightWitConfusedVeilsMicroscopes
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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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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“What passes in the world for talent or dexterity or enterprise is often only a want of moral principle. We may succeed where others fail, not from a greater share of invention, but from not being nice in the choice of expedients.”

WorldWantMayChoicesMoralPrinciplesGreaterNiceFailingShareTalentSucceedInventionEnterpriseBeing NiceMoral PrinciplesDexterity
Book:The Round Table. A collection of Essays ... By W. H. and Leigh Hunt
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“The soil of friendship is worn out with constant use. Habit may still attach us to each other, but we feel ourselves fettered by it. Old friends might be compared to old married people without the tie of children.”

PeopleFeelsMayChildrenStillsUseMightFriendshipHabitMarriedConstantTiesSoilWornOld FriendsWorn Out
Book:The Round Table. A collection of Essays ... By W. H. and Leigh Hunt
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“Any one may mouth out a passage with a theatrical cadence, or get upon stilts to tell his thoughts; but to write or speak with propriety and simplicity is a more difficult task. Thus it is easy to affect a pompous style, to use a word twice as big as the thing you want to express; it is not so easy to pitch upon the very word that exactly fits it.”

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Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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“Tears may be considered as the natural and involuntary resource of the mind overcome by some sudden and violent emotion, before ithas had time to reconcile its feelings to the change in circumstances: while laughter may be defined to be the same sort of convulsive and involuntary movement, occasioned by mere sur prise or contrast (in the absence of any more serious emotion), before it has time to reconcile its belief to contradictory appearances.”

MindMayFeelingsBeliefNaturalEmotionCryMovementTearsSeriousCircumstancesLaughterResourcesOvercomingMereAppearanceAbsenceViolentDefinedContrastContradictoryReconcileInvoluntary
Book:Lectures on the English Comic Writers
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“This is the test and triumph of originality, not to show us what has never been, and what we may therefore very easily never have dreamt of, but to point out to us what is before our eyes and under our feet, though we have had no suspicion of its existence, for want of sufficient strength of intuition, of determined grasp of mind to seize and retain it.”

WantMindMayShowsEyeExistenceFeetTestsIntuitionDeterminedTriumphSufficientOriginalitySuspicion
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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“True friendship is self-love at second hand; where, as in a flattering mirror we may see our virtues magnified and our errors softened, and where we may fancy our opinion of ourselves confirmed by an impartial and faithful witness.”

MayRealSelfHandsOpinionVirtueSelf LoveMirrorsErrorsWitnessFaithfulFancyReal FriendsTrue FriendTrue FriendshipFlatteringSecond Hand
Book:The Plain Speaker: Opinions on Books, Men, and Things
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“Violence ever defeats its own ends. Where you cannot drive you can always persuade. A gentle word, a kind look, a god-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. There is a secret pride in every human heart than revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.”

HumansLooksHeartKindMayEndsOrderIndividualSecretWonderViolencePrideRespectMiracleDefeatAccomplishTyrannyGentleHuman HeartRevolt
Author:William Hazlitt
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“We are the creatures of imagination, passion, and self-will, more than of reason or even of self-interest. Even in the common transactions and daily intercourse of life, we are governed by whim, caprice, prejudice, or accident. The falling of a teacup puts us out of temper for the day; and a quarrel that commenced about the pattern of a gown may end only with our lives.”

LifeMayEndsSelfReasonFallPassionInterestImaginationCommonOur LivesCreaturesPrejudicePatternsAccidentsTemperQuarrelsSelf InterestIntercourseWhimTransactionsGownsCapriceSelf Will
Book:The Collected Works of William Hazlitt: Fugitive writings
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