---
title: "3 Breeding Quotes By Van Wyck Brooks"
description: "3 Breeding quotes by Van Wyck Brooks. Plus more from Van Wyck Brooks and more Breeding sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/575/van-wyck-brooks-22156_always_people-of-small-caliber-are-always-carpi_587848.jpg"
---

> [People of small caliber are always carping. They are bent on showing their own superiority, their knowledge or prowess or good breeding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/people-of-small-caliber-are-always-carping-they-are-bent-on-showing/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/575/van-wyck-brooks-22156_always_people-of-small-caliber-are-always-carpi_587848.jpg)

> [How delightful is the company of generous people, who overlook trifles and keep their minds instinctively fixed on whatever is good and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/how-delightful-is-the-company-of-generous-people-who-overlook-trifles/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/van-wyck-brooks-22156_bent_how-delightful-is-the-company-of-generou_1168722.jpg)

> [People of small calibre are always carping. How affected so-and-so is! Don't you think he is silly? He was certainly quite mistaken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/people-of-small-calibre-are-always-carping-how-affected-so-and-so-is/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/van-wyck-brooks-22156_bent_people-of-small-calibre-are-always-carpi_2997009.jpg)

## Other authors on Breeding

## More by Van Wyck Brooks

> [Better the fragrant herb of wit and a little cream of affability than all the pretty cups in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/better-the-fragrant-herb-of-wit-and-a-little-cream-of-affability-than/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The creative impulses of man are always at war with the possessive impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-creative-impulses-of-man-are-always-at-war-with-the-possessive/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Genius and virtue are to be more often found clothed in gray than in peacock bright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/genius-and-virtue-are-to-be-more-often-found-clothed-in-gray-than-in/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The instructed man is ashamed to pronounce in an Orphic manner what everybody knows, and because he is silent people think he is making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-instructed-man-is-ashamed-to-pronounce-in-an-orphic-manner-what/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/nothing-is-so-soothing-to-our-self-esteem-as-to-find-our-bad-traits/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [No one in this country has any root anywhere; we don't live in America, we board here, we are like spiders that run over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/no-one-in-this-country-has-any-root-anywhere-we-don-t-live-in-america/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The man who has the courage of his platitudes is always a successful man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-man-who-has-the-courage-of-his-platitudes-is-always-a-successful/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [There is no stopping the world's tendency to throw off imposed restraints, the religious authority that is based on the ignorance of the many,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/there-is-no-stopping-the-world-s-tendency-to-throw-off-imposed/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The American mind, unlike the English, is not formed by books, but, as Carl Sandburg once said to me, by newspapers and the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-american-mind-unlike-the-english-is-not-formed-by-books-but-as/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [People of small caliber are always carping. They are bent on showing their own superiority, their knowledge or prowess or good breeding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/people-of-small-caliber-are-always-carping-they-are-bent-on-showing/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Magnanimous people have no vanity, they have no jealousy, and they feed on the true and the solid wherever they find it. And, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/magnanimous-people-have-no-vanity-they-have-no-jealousy-and-they-feed/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [How delightful is the company of generous people, who overlook trifles and keep their minds instinctively fixed on whatever is good and positive in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/how-delightful-is-the-company-of-generous-people-who-overlook-trifles/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [It is not that the French are not profound, but they all express themselves so well that we are led to take their geese…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/it-is-not-that-the-french-are-not-profound-but-they-all-express/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [Those of our writers who have possessed a vivid personal talent have been paralyzed by a want of social background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/those-of-our-writers-who-have-possessed-a-vivid-personal-talent-have/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

> [The writer is important only by dint of the territory he colonizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-wyck-brooks/the-writer-is-important-only-by-dint-of-the-territory-he-colonizes/)

[Van Wyck Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-wyck-brooks/)

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