He who undervalues himself is justly undervalued by others.
— William Hazlitt
We often choose a friend as we do a mistress - for no particular excellence in themselves, but merely from some circumstance that flatters our self-love.
Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for poetry, cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else.
The art of pleasing consists in being pleased.
Few things tend more to alienate friendship than a want of punctuality in our engagements. I have known the breach of a promise to dine or sup to break up more than one intimacy.
Defoe says that there were a hundred thousand country fellows in his time ready to fight to the death against popery, without knowing whether popery was a man or a horse.
We are not hypocrites in our sleep.
To be remembered after we are dead, is but poor recompense for being treated with contempt while we are living.
Almost every sect of Christianity is a perversion of its essence, to accommodate it to the prejudices of the world.
Reflection makes men cowards.
The English (it must be owned) are rather a foul-mouthed nation.
We find many things to which the prohibition of them constitutes the only temptation.
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our friends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
To get others to come into our ways of thinking, we must go over to theirs; and it is necessary to follow, in order to lead.
The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.
Love turns, with a little indulgence, to indifference or disgust; hatred alone is immortal.
Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves.
A hypocrite despises those whom he deceives, but has no respect for himself. He would make a dupe of himself too, if he could.
The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases.
The dupe of friendship, and the fool of love; have I not reason to hate and to despise myself? Indeed I do; and chiefly for not having hated and despised the world enough.
Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the color in your cheek and the fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your beauty and your animal spirits.
A nickname is the heaviest stone that the devil can throw at a man. It is a bugbear to the imagination, and, though we do not believe in it, it still haunts our apprehensions.
Even in the common affairs of life, in love, friendship, and marriage, how little security have we when we trust our happiness in the hands of others!
Dandyism is a variety of genius.
Our friends are generally ready to do everything for us, except the very thing we wish them to do.
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.
The true barbarian is he who thinks everything barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.
There is nothing good to be had in the country, or if there is, they will not let you have it.
To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind.
Life is the art of being well deceived; and in order that the deception may succeed it must be habitual and uninterrupted.
There are no rules for friendship. It must be left to itself. We cannot force it any more than love.
A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
Some people break promises for the pleasure of breaking them.
Dr. Johnson was a lazy learned man who liked to think and talk better than to read or write; who, however, wrote much and well, but too often by rote.
Do not keep on with a mockery of friendship after the substance is gone - but part, while you can part friends. Bury the carcass of friendship: it is not worth embalming.
Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my way across the room.
Anyone who has passed though the regular gradations of a classical education, and is not made a fool by it, may consider himself as having had a very narrow escape.
To think ill of mankind and not wish ill to them, is perhaps the highest wisdom and virtue.
If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
No young man ever thinks he shall die.
No one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves.
The humblest painter is a true scholar; and the best of scholars the scholar of nature.
An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may.
Old friendships are like meats served up repeatedly, cold, comfortless, and distasteful. The stomach turns against them.
There is no one thoroughly despicable. We cannot descend much lower than an idiot; and an idiot has some advantages over a wise man.
The seat of knowledge is in the head; of wisdom, in the heart. We are sure to judge wrong, if we do not feel right.
I would like to spend the whole of my life traveling, if I could anywhere borrow another life to spend at home.
Gracefulness has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.
Man is a make-believe animal: he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.
