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
attentions ceremony paying people receive return shall soon tired toward treated
If we use no ceremony toward others, we shall be treated without any. People are soon tired of paying trifling attentions to those who receive them with coldness, and return them with neglect.
cannot errors lasting ourselves
It is not the errors of others, but our own miscalculations, on which we wreak our lasting vengeance. It is ourselves that we cannot forgive.
hypocrisy hypocrite practice wishes
He is a hypocrite who professes what he does not believe; not he who does not practice all he wishes or approves
argument force gives
There is no force but argument in the case, and it is reason, not the will of another, that gives the law.
generally sayings
His sayings are generally like women's letters; all the pith is in the postscript
worst
His worst is better than any other person's best.
almost edition human human-nature works
His works (taken together) are almost like a new edition of human nature.
alter flesh fortune itself mend opportunity original remains shall true
We may, with instruction and opportunity mend our manners, or else alter for the worse, -- as the flesh and fortune shall serve; but the character, the internal, original bias, remains always the same, true to itself to the very last.
hear twice willing
We may be willing to tell a story twice but we are never willing to hear it more than once
creature gentleman great known moment opinion public shake title
It is great to shake off the trammels of the world and of public opinion . . . and become the creature of the moment . . . known by no other title than The Gentleman in the Parlour!
allowed counting distance leisure march simple steps
Surely, nothing is more simple than Time. His march is straightforward; but we should have leisure allowed us to look back upon the distance we have come, and not be counting his steps every moment.
body clear held mind obvious therefore
The accomplishments of the body are obvious and clear to all: those of the mind are recondite and doubtful, and therefore grudgingly acknowledged, or held up as the sport of prejudice, spite, and folly.
baffling chiefly consists expectation
The are of will-making chiefly consists in baffling the importunity of expectation.
eagerness learning
That which any one has been long learning unwillingly, he unlearns with proportional eagerness and haste.