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Quote by Charles Caleb Colton

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Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think

This book is a compilation of short, insightful essays that explore a wide range of topics, encouraging readers to think critically and appreciate the power of succinct expression. more

Author

Charles Caleb Colton
Charles Caleb Colton

Charles Caleb Colton was an English writer active from 1780 to 1832. Known for his humor and wit, he is particularly recognized for his aphorisms and satirical works. more

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“Extemporaneous and oral harangues will always have this advantage over those that are read from a in manuscript: every burst of eloquence or spark of genius they may contain, however studied they may have been beforehand, will appear to the audience to be the effect of the sudden inspiration of talent.”

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Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“Eloquence, to produce her full effect, should start from the head of the orator, as Pallas from the brain of Jove, completely armed and equipped. Diffidence, therefore, which is so able a mentor to the writer, would prove a dangerous counsellor for the orator.”

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Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“The art of declamation has been sinking in value from the moment that speakers were foolish enough to publish, and hearers wise enough to read.”

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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 no cruelty so inexorable and unrelenting as that which proceeds from a bigoted and presumptuous supposition of doing service to God. The victim of the fanatical persecutor will find that the stronger the motives he can urge for mercy are, the weaker will be his chance for obtaining it, for the merit of his destruction will be supposed to rise in value in proportion as it is effected at the expense of every feeling both of justice and of humanity.”

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Book:Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
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“Idleness is the grand Pacific Ocean of life, and in that stagnant abyss the most salutary things produce no good, the most noxious no evil. Vice, indeed, abstractedly considered, may be, and often is engendered in idleness; but the moment it becomes efficiently vice, it must quit its cradle and cease to be idle.”

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