Richard Whately
Richard Whately
Richard Whatelywas an English rhetorician, logician, economist, academic and theologian who also served as a reforming Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin. He was a leading Broad Churchman, a prolific and combative author over a wide range of topics, a flamboyant character, and one of the first reviewers to recognise the talents of Jane Austen...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth1 February 1787
too-much littles manners
Better too much form than too little.
honesty men policy
Honesty is the best policy; but he who is governed by that maxim is not an honest man.
communication dark light
Unless people can be kept in the dark, it is best for those who love the truth to give them the full light.
twilight people tone
As there are dim-sighted people who live in a sort of perpetual twilight, so there are some who, having neither much clearness of head nor a very elevated tone of morality, are perpetually haunted by suspicions of everybody and everything.
ignorance intelligence misled
He who is not aware of his ignorance will be only misled by his knowledge.
food tables dinner
Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry gets the best of the argument.
truth believe differences
As one may bring himself to believe almost anything he is inclined to believe, it makes all the difference whether we begin or end with the inquiry, 'What is truth?'
children men giving
A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them fortune.
character care may
Habits are formed, not at one stroke, but gradually and insensibly; so that, unless vigilant care be employed, a great change may come over the character without our being conscious of any.
girl character animal
Grace is in a great measure a natural gift; elegance implies cultivation; or something of more artificial character. A rustic, uneducated girl may be graceful, but an elegant woman must be accomplished and well trained. It is the same with things as with persons; we talk of a graceful tree, but of an elegant house or other building. Animals may be graceful, but they cannot be elegant. The movements of a kitten or a young fawn are full of grace; but to call them "elegant" animals would be absurd.
demand christianity distinction
The heathen mythology not only was not true, but was not even supported as true; it not only deserved no faith, but it demanded none. The very pretension to truth, the very demand of faith, were characteristic distinctions of Christianity.
kings lying gun
The attendant on William Rufus, who discharged at a deer an arrow, which glanced against a tree and killed the king, was no murderer, because he had no such design. And, on the other hand, a man who should lie in wait to assassinate another, and pull the trigger of a gun with that intent, would be morally a murderer, not the less though the gun should chance to miss fire.
style intellectual energy
Of metaphors, those generally conduce most to energy or vivacity of style which illustrate an intellectual by a sensible object.
truth wish sides
Everyone wishes to have truth on his side, but not everyone wishes to be on the side of truth.