--- title: "3 Alas Quotes By Charles Caleb Colton" description: "3 Alas quotes by Charles Caleb Colton. Plus more from Charles Caleb Colton and more Alas sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christ_688914.png" --- > [Alas! how has the social spirit of Christianity been perverted by fools at one time, and by knaves and bigots at another;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christianity-been-perverted-by/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christ_688914.png) > [Alas! What is man? Whether he be deprived of that light which is from on high, of whether he discard it, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/alas-what-is-man-whether-he-be-deprived-of-that-light-which-is-from/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/518/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_alas-what-is-man-whether-he-be-deprived_973002.jpg) > [The victims of ennui paralyze all the grosser feelings by excess, and torpify all the finer by disuse and inactivity. Disgusted with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/the-victims-of-ennui-paralyze-all-the-grosser-feelings-by-excess-and/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_the-victims-of-ennui-paralyze-all-the-gr_1666664.png) ## Other authors on Alas ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas/charles-caleb-colton/#itemlist", "name": "3 Alas Quotes By Charles Caleb Colton", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Alas! how has the social spirit of Christianity been perverted by fools at one time, and by knaves and bigots at another; by the self-tormentors of the cell, and the all-tormentors of the conclave!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Caleb Colton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christianity-been-perverted-by/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christ_688914.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christ_688914.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f27/charles-caleb-colton-270_alas_alas-how-has-the-social-spirit-of-christ_688914.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Alas! how has the social spirit of Christianity been perverted by fools at one time, and by knaves and…” — Charles Caleb Colton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Alas! What is man? Whether he be deprived of that light which is from on high, of whether he discard it, a frail and trembling creature; standing on time, that bleak and narrow isthmus between two eternities, he sees nothing but impenetrable darkness on the one hand, and doubt, distrust, and conjecture, still more perplexing, on the other. 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