Tis a sort of duty to be rich, that it may be in one's power to do good, riches being another word for power.
— Mary Wortley Montagu
Solitude begets whimsies.
No modest man ever did or ever will make a fortune.
Life is too short for a long story.
A face is too slight a foundation for happiness.
I hate the noise and hurry inseparable from great Estates and Titles, and look upon both as blessings that ought only to be given to fools, for 'Tis only to them that they are blessings.
The pretty fellows you speak of, I own entertain me sometimes, but is it impossible to be diverted with what one despises? I can laugh at a puppet show, at the same time I know there is nothing in it worth my attention or regard.
No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.
The ultimate end of your education was to make you a good wife.
I don't say 'Tis impossible for an impudent man not to rise in the world, but a moderate merit with a large share of impudence is more probable to be advanced than the greatest qualifications without it.
We are no more free agents than the queen of clubs when she victoriously takes prisoner the knave of hearts.
Time has the same effect on the mind as on the face; the predominant passion and the strongest feature become more conspicuous from the others' retiring.
There is nothing can pay one for that invaluable ignorance which is the companion of youth, those sanguine groundless hopes, and that lively vanity which makes all the happiness of life.
In short I will part with anything for you but you.
I prefer liberty to chains of diamonds.
Prudent people are very happy; 'tis an exceeding fine thing, that's certain, but I was born without it, and shall retain to my day of Death the Humour of saying what I think.
Civility costs nothing, and buys everything.
Nobody should trust their virtue with necessity, the force of which is never known till it is felt, and it is therefore one of the first duties to avoid the temptation of it.
While conscience is our friend, all is at peace; however once it is offended, farewell to a tranquil mind.
A man that is ashamed of passions that are natural and reasonable is generally proud of those that are shameful and silly.
Writers of novels and romance in general bring a double loss to their readers; robbing them of their time and money; representing men, manners, and things, that never have been, or are likely to be.
Nobody can deny but religion is a comfort to the distressed, a cordial to the sick, and sometimes a restraint on the wicked; therefore whoever would argue or laugh it out of the world without giving some equivalent for it ought to be treated as a common enemy.
We travellers are in very hard circumstances. If we say nothing but what has been said before us, we are dull and have observed nothing. If we tell anything new, we are laughed at as fabulous and romantic.
People commonly educate their children as they build their houses, according to some plan they think beautiful, without considering whether it is suited to the purposes for which they are designed.
