Charles Caleb Colton
Charles Caleb Colton
Charles Caleb Coltonwas an English cleric, writer and collector, well known for his eccentricities...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
brain mentor able
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.
men may able
Many a man may thank his talent for his rank, but no man has ever been able to return the compliment by thanking his rank for his talent.
revenge knaves able
Revenge is a debt, in the paying of which the greatest knave is honest and sincere, and, so far as he is able, punctual.
may venture able
As there are none so weak that we may venture to injure them with impunity, so there are none so low that they may not at some time be able to repay an obligation. Therefore, what benevolence would dictate, prudence would confirm.
good man trusted unlimited wise
No man is wise enough, or good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.
giving literature doe
That writer does the most who gives his reader the most knowledge and takes from him the least time.
flattery form
Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
born men order twice
Men are born with two eyes, but only one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say.
becoming men others paradox prevents pride
There is this paradox in pride -- it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so.
dull influence authorship
There are both dull correctness and piquant carelessness; it is needless to say which will command the most readers and have the most influence.
winter age lapland
Cheerfulness ought to be the viaticum vitae of their life to the old; age without cheerfulness is a Lapland winter without a sun.
character half tongue
Living authors, therefore, are usually, bad companions. If they have not gained character, they seek to do so by methods often ridiculous, always disgusting; and if they have established a character, they are silent for fear of losing by their tongue what they have acquired by their pen--for many authors converse much more foolishly than Goldsmith, who have never written half so well.
law justice water
In civil jurisprudence it too often happens that there is so much law, that there is no room for justice, and that the claimant expires of wrong in the midst of right, as mariners die of thirst in the midst of water.
regret sleep insomnia
Bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret.