William Gilmore Simms
William Gilmore Simms
William Gilmore Simmswas a poet, novelist and historian from the American South. His writings achieved great prominence during the 19th century, with Edgar Allan Poe pronouncing him the best novelist America had ever produced. He is still known among literary scholars as a major force in antebellum Southern literature. He is also remembered for his strong support of slavery and for his opposition to Uncle Tom's Cabin, in response to which he wrote reviews and a pro-slavery novel...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
CountryUnited States of America
Tact is one of the first mental virtues, the absence of it is fatal to the best talent.
Neither praise or blame is the object of true criticism. Justly to discriminate, firmly to establish, wisely to prescribe, and honestly to award. These are the true aims and duties of criticism.
Most men remember obligations, but are not often likely to be grateful; the proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.
The fool is willing to pay for anything but wisdom. No man buys that of which he supposes himself to have an abundance already.
Our cares are the mothers, not only of our charities And virtues, but of our best joys and most cheering and enduring pleasures.
There is a native baseness in the ambition which seeks beyond its desert, that never shows more conspicuously than when, no matter how, it temporarily gains its object.
Our true acquisitions lie only in our charities - we gain only as we give.
To feel oppressed by obligation is only to prove that we are incapable of a proper sentiment of gratitude. To receive favors from the unworthy is simply to admit that our selfishness is superior to our pride. Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful for them. The proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.
Modesty is policy, no less than virtue.
But for that blindness which is inseparable from malice, what terrible powers of evil would it possess! Fortunately for the world, its venom, like that of the rattlesnake, when most poisonous, clouds the eye of the reptile, and defeats its aim.
There is no doubt such a thing as chance, but I see no reason why Providence should not make use of it.
The birth of a child is the imprisonment of a soul.
Stagnation is something worse than death. It is corruption, also.
Philosophy has its bugbears, as well as superstition.