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
home night rustic
Like a rustic at a fair, we are full of amazement and rapture, and have no thought of going home, or that it will soon be night.
wise men giving
Confidence gives a fool the advantage over a wise man.
country rivers growth
Languages happily restrict the mind to what is of its own native growth and fitted for it, as rivers and mountains bond countries; or the empire of learning, as well as states, would become unwieldy and overgrown.
friendship true-friend fear
He will never have true friends who is afraid of making enemies.
dream hurt stars
Happy are they who live in the dream of their own existence, and see all things in the light of their own minds; who walk by faith and hope; to whom the guiding star of their youth still shines from afar, and into whom the spirit of the world has not entered! They have not been "hurt by the archers", nor has the iron entered their souls. The world has no hand on them.
abuse indirect species
Abuse is an indirect species of homage.
ideas way made
To impress the idea of power on others, they must be made in some way to feel it.
silence benefits sides
A lively blockhead in company is a public benefit. Silence or dulness by the side of folly looks like wisdom.
fashion real men
A man who does not endeavour to seem more than he is will generally be thought nothing of. We habitually make such large deductions for pretence and imposture that no real merit will stand against them. It is necessary to set off our good qualities with a certain air of plausibility and self-importance, as some attention to fashion is necessary.
thinking quality complaining
The best way to make ourselves agreeable to others is by seeming to think them so. If we appear fully sensible of their good qualities they will not complain of the want of them in us.
hatred littles indifference
Love turns, with a little indulgence, to indifference or disgust; hatred alone is immortal.
truth men order
An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may.
tired grows defects
We grow tired of everything but turning others into ridicule, and congratulating ourselves on their defects.
commitment keeping-promises people
Some people break promises for the pleasure of breaking them.