Quotes by
Sydney Smith |
1771-1845 , British writer & cleric
Writer and Anglican cleric. One of the foremost English preachers of his day, and a champion of parliamentary reform. Through his writings he perhaps did more than anyone else to change public opinion regarding Roman Catholic emancipation. Smith was also famous for his wit and charm.
| 23 quotes | 1,023 visits |
Quotations
| • | It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little. 6 |
| • | Solitude cherishes great virtues and destroys little ones. 6 |
| • | Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything. 4 |
| • | No furniture so charming as books. 4 |
| • | A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience. 3 |
| • | When I hear any man talk of an unalterable law, the only effect it produces upon me is to convince me that he is an unalterable fool. 2 |
| • | I believe the parallelogram between Oxford Street, Piccadilly, Regent Street, and Hyde Park, encloses more intelligence and human celebrity, to say nothing of wealth and beauty, than the world has ever collected in one space before. |
| • | My idea of heaven is, eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets. |
| • | Among the smaller duties of life I hardly know any one more important than that of not praising where praise is not due. |
| • | Avoid shame, but do not seek glory: nothing so expensive as glory. |
| • | My living in Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles from a lemon. |
| • | As the French say, there are three sexes — men, women, and clergymen. |
| • | He was a one-book man. Some men have only one book in them; others, a library. |
| • | A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort. |
| • | Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them. |
| • | Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed. |
| • | To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can. |
| • | What you don't know would make a great book. |
| • | Never talk for half a minute without pausing and giving others a chance to join in. |
| • | Heaven never helps the men who will not act. |
| • | If I were to begin life again, I would devote it to music. It is the only cheap and unpunished rapture upon earth. |
| • | Find fault when you must find fault in private, and if possible sometime after the offense, rather than at the time. |
| • | What a pity it is that we have no amusements in England but vice and religion! |
