Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford— also known as Horace Walpole — was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth24 September 1717
bills draw english-author full men seldom sent
Men are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.
compensate given humor humorous imagination man
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he isn't. A sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.
writing ink cold
Every drop of ink in my pen ran cold.
governors supreme
Our supreme governors, the mob.
fashion law devotee
Fashion is fortunately no law but to its devotees.
believe men order
What is called chance is the instrument of Providence and the secret agent that counteracts what men call wisdom, and preserves order and regularity, and continuation in the whole, for ... I firmly believe, notwithstanding all our complaints, that almost every person upon earth tastes upon the totality more happiness than misery; and therefore if we could correct the world to our fancies, and with the best intentions imaginable, probably we should only produce more misery and confusion.
fashion silly people
Fashion is always silly, for, before it can spread far, it must be calculated for silly people; as examples of sense, wit, or ingenuity could be imitated only by a few.
beautiful regret wrinkles
Defaced ruins of architecture and statuary, like the wrinkles of decrepitude of a once beautiful woman, only make one regret that one did not see them when they were enchanting.
scotch void humour
The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it.
rap axes crooks
I sit with my toes in a brook, And if any one axes forwhy? I hits them a rap with my crook, For 'tis sentiment does it, says I.
song littles doe
A careless song, with a little nonsense in it now and then, does not mis-become a monarch.
mystery blockheads
Mystery is the wisdom of blockheads.