“If love at first sight were mutual, or to be conciliated by kind offices; if the fondest affection were not so often repaid and chilled by indifference and scorn; if so many lovers both before and since the madman in Don Quixote had not ‘worshipped a statue, hunted the wind, cried aloud to the desert’; if friendship were lasting; if merit were renown, and renown were health, riches, and long life; or if the homage of the world were paid to conscious worth and the true aspirations after excellence, instead of its gaudy signs and outward trappings, then indeed I might be of opinion that it is better to live to others than one’s self; but as the case stands, I incline to the negative side of the question.”
Quote by William Hazlitt
Work
The Plain Speaker: Opinions on Books, Men, and Things; Volume I
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
Source: 31 Ways to Happiness
Source: 31 Ways to Happiness
“When you are kind, you start appreciating weaknesses more than fame, pain more than pretense.”
“Fame makes a man slave to all people.”
Source: Red-White Love: The Love of Liverpool FC
Source: Problems of Empiricism: Volume 2: Philosophical Papers
Source: Red-White Love: The Love of Liverpool FC
“Don't sell your dignity to create your fame then you will have no shame.”
Source: Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now
