“He that studies only men will get the body of knowledge without the soul; and he that studies only books, the soul without the body.”
Source: Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“Miss Edgeworth and Mme. de Stael have proved that there is no sex in style; and Mme. la Roche Jacqueline, and the Duchesse d'Angouleme have proved that there is no sex in courage.”
“Perhaps that is nearly the perfection of good writing which is original, but whose truth alone prevents the reader from suspecting that it is so; and which effects that for knowledge which the lens effects for the sunbeam, when it condenses its brightness in order to increase its force.”
Source: Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“Some authors write nonsense in a clear style, and others sense in an obscure one; some can reason without being able to persuade, others can persuade without being able to reason; some dive so deep that they descend into darkness, and others soar so high that they give us no light; and some, in a vain attempt to be cutting and dry, give us only that which is cut and dried. We should labor, therefore, to treat with ease of things that are difficult; with familiarity, of things that are novel; and with perspicuity, of things that are profound.”
Source: Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“Style is indeed the valet of genius, and an able one too; but as the true gentleman will appear, even in rags, so true genius will shine, even through the coarsest style.”
Source: Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think
“When I meet with any persons who write obscurely or converse confusedly, I am apt to suspect two things; first, that such persons do not understand themselves; and secondly, that they are not worthy of being understood by others.”
Source: Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think
“Subtlety will sometimes give safety, no less than strength; and minuteness has sometimes escaped, where magnitude would have been crushed. The little animal that kills the boa is formidable chiefly from its insignificance, which is incompressible by the folds of its antagonist.”
Source: Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“To judge by the event is an error all commit: for in every instance courage, if crowned with success, is heroism; if clouded by defeat, temerity. When Nelson fought his battle in the Sound, it was the result alone that decided whether he was to kiss a hand at court or a rod at a court-martial.”
Source: Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“Gross and vulgar minds will always pay a higher respect to wealth than to talent; for wealth, although it be a far less efficient source of power than talent, happens to be far more intelligible.”
Source: Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“Men of great and shining qualities do not always succeed in life, but the fault lies more often in themselves than in others.”
Source: Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think
