“Love is a volcano, the crater of which no wise man will approach too nearly, lest ... he should be swallowed up.”
Source: Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“Love, like the cold bath, is never negative, it seldom leaves us where it finds us; if once we plunge into it, it will either heighten our virtues, or inflame our vices.”
Source: Remarks on the Talents of Lord Byron and the Tendencies of Don Juan
“So long as lust, whether of the world or flesh, smells sweet in our nostrils, so long we are loathsome to God.”
“People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines... There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.”
“He that gives a portion of his time and talent to the investigation of mathematical truth, will come to all other questions with a decided advantage over his opponents.”
Source: Remarks on the Talents of Lord Byron and the Tendencies of Don Juan
“Modesty is the richest ornament of a woman ... the want of it is her greatest deformity.”
Source: Lacon: or, Many things in few words
“We injure mysteries, which are matters of faith by any attempt at explanation in order to make them matters of reason.”
Source: Remarks on the Talents of Lord Byron and the Tendencies of Don Juan
“Nobility is a river that sets with a constant and undeviating current, directly into the great Pacific Ocean of Time; but, unlike all other rivers, it is more grand at its source, than at its termination.”
Source: Lord Chesterfield's advice to his son on men and manners. To which are added, selections from Colton's 'Lacon'.
“Unity of opinion is indeed a glorious and desirable thing, and its circle cannot be too strong and extended, if the centre be truth; but if the centre be error, the greater the circumference, the greater the evil.”
Source: Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words Addressed to Those who Think
“By privileges, immunities, or prerogatives to give unlimited swing to the passions of individuals, and then to hope that they will restrain them, is about as reasonable as to expect that the tiger will spare the hart to browse upon the herbage.”
Source: Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think