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
ignorance conversation former
There are many who talk on from ignorance rather than from knowledge, and who find the former an inexhaustible fund of conversation.
pride
Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
self-esteem thinking people
The most silent people are generally those who think most highly of themselves.
people common-sense community
Common sense, to most people, is nothing more than their own opinions.
ignorance evil world
The ignorance of the world leaves one at the mercy of its malice.
hate loss evil
The devil was a great loss in the preternatural world. He was always something to fear and to hate; he supplied the antagonist powers of the imagination, and the arch of true religion hardly stands firm without him.
vanity arrogant dull
In some situations, if you say nothing, you are called dull; if you talk, you are thought impertinent and arrogant. It is hard to know what to do in this case. The question seems to be, whether your vanity or your prudence predominates.
painter scholar
The humblest painter is a true scholar; and the best of scholars the scholar of nature.
race ridiculous virtue
To a superior race of being the pretensions of mankind to extraordinary sanctity and virtue must seem... ridiculous.
vices heroism virtue
There is a heroism in crime as well as in virtue. Vice and infamy have their altars and their religion.
wise way world
The way to get on in the world is to be neither more nor less wise, neither better nor worse than your neighbours.
love sarcasm gains
Satirists gain the applause of others through fear, not through love.
gratitude shame
The public have neither shame or gratitude.
shining excellence quality
One shining quality lends a lustre to another, or hides some glaring defect.