William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeraywas an English novelist of the 19th century. He is famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth18 July 1811
eye years giving
Ah! gracious Heaven gives us eyes to see our own wrong, however dim age may make them; and knees not too stiff to kneel, in spite of years, cramp, and rheumatism.
lambs lions world
We can't all be lions in this world. There must be some lambs, harmless, kindly, gregarious creatures for eating and shearing.
calling poverty wealth
You, who are ashamed of your poverty, and blush for your calling, are a snob; as are you who boast of your wealth.
wise fate vanity
Oh, Vanity of vanities! How wayward the decrees of Fate are; How very weak the very wise, How very small the very great are!
rely-upon amusement virtuous-woman
All amusements to which virtuous women are not admitted, are, rely upon it, deleterious in their nature.
horse father knights
We who have lived before railways were made belong to another world. It was only yesterday, but what a gulf between now and then! Then was the old world. Stage-coaches, more or less swift, riding-horses, pack-horses, highwaymen, knights in armor, Norman invaders, Roman legions, Druids, Ancient Britons painted blue, and so forth -- all these belong to the old period. But your railroad starts the new era, and we of a certain age belong to the new time and the old one. We who lived before railways, and survive out of the ancient world, are like Father Noah and his family out of the Ark.
friends forget snob
Those who forgets their friends to follow those of a higher status are truly snobs.
mistress affection easy
It is comparatively easy to leave a mistress, but very hard to be left by one.
sweet clever men
Novels are sweets. All people with healthy literary appetites love them-almost all women; a vast number of clever, hardheaded men.
years looks gaps
At certain periods of life, we live years of emotion in a few weeks, and look back on those times as on great gaps between the old life and the new.
mean old-friends jelly
Certain it is that scandal is good brisk talk, whereas praise of one's neighbor is by no means lively hearing. An acquaintance grilled, scored, devilled, and served with mustard and cayenne pepper excites the appetite; whereas a slice of cold friend with currant jelly is but a sickly, unrelishing meat.
men soul devil
[As they say in the old legends]Before a man goes to the devil himself, he sends plenty of other souls thither.
brother thinking giving
He was always thinking of his brother's soul, or of the souls of those who differed with him in opinion: it is a sort of comfort which many of the serious give themselves.
judging snob shows
You must not judge hastily or vulgarly of Snobs: to do so shows that you are yourself a Snob.