William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt
William Hazlittwas an English writer, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age. Despite his high standing among historians of literature and art, his work is currently little read and mostly out of print...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionCritic
Date of Birth10 April 1778
vanity merit opinion
We prefer ourselves to others, only because we a have more intimate consciousness and confirmed opinion of our own claims and merits than of any other person's.
exercise thinking ideas
The idea of what the public will think prevents the public from ever thinking at all, and acts as a spell on the exercise of private judgment.
philosophy elude-us air
General principles are not the less true or important because from their nature they elude immediate observation; they are like the air, which is not the less necessary because we neither see nor feel it.
talking people sake
People do not seem to talk for the sake of expressing their opinions, but to maintain an opinion for the sake of talking.
men proud doe
A proud man is satisfied with his own good opinion, and does not seek to make converts to it.
money cost wealth
We uniformly applaud what is right and condemn what is wrong, when it costs us nothing but the sentiment.
grief sadness taste
It is better to drink of deep grief than to taste shallow pleasures.
inspirational favors quantum
We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received.
envious wit objects
Those who object to wit are envious of it.
people quality common
Wit is the rarest quality to be met with among people of education, and the most common among the uneducated.
women vanity coquette
Any woman may act the part of a coquette successfully who has the reputation without the scruples of modesty. If a woman passes the bounds of propriety for our sakes, and throws herself unblushingly at our heads, we conclude it is either from a sudden and violent liking, or from extraordinary merit on our parts, either of which is enough to turn any man's head who has a single spark of gallantry or vanity in his composition.
country mistake women
With women, the great business of life is love; and they generally make a mistake in it. They consult neither the heart nor the head, but are led away by mere humour and fancy. If instead of a companion for life, they had to choose a partner in a country-dance or to trifle away an hour with, their mode of calculation would be right. They tie their true-lover's knot with idle, thoughtless haste, while the institutions of society render it indissoluble.
women break-through modesty
The affected modesty of most women is a decoy for the generous, the delicate, and unsuspecting; while the artful, the bold, and unfeeling either see or break through its slender disguises.
love passion eye
A man in love prefers his passion to every other consideration, and is fonder of his mistress than he is of virtue. Should she prove vicious, she makes vice lovely in his eyes.