Character Quotes by Washington Irving

Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…

— Washington Irving

Language gradually varies, and with it fade away the writings of authors who have flourished their allotted time; otherwise, the creative powers of genius…

— Washington Irving

A woman's life is a history of the affections.

— Washington Irving

A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands.…

— Washington Irving

Over no nation does the press hold a more absolute control than over the people of America, for the universal education of the poorest…

— Washington Irving

I have never found, in anything outside of the four walls of my study, an enjoyment equal to sitting at my writing desk with…

— Washington Irving

There is no character in the comedy of human life more difficult to play well than that of an old bachelor.

— Washington Irving

He who thinks much says but little in proportion to his thoughts. He selects that language which will convey his ideas in the most…

— Washington Irving

A woman's whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world: it is there her ambition strives for empire; it…

— Washington Irving

Redundancy of language is never found with deep reflection. Verbiage may indicate observation, but not thinking. He who thinks much says but little in…

— Washington Irving

History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet: the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns,…

— Washington Irving

There is a majestic grandeur in tranquillity.

— Washington Irving

There rise authors now and then, who seem proof against the mutability of language, because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging principles of…

— Washington Irving

There is nothing in England that exercises a more delightful spell over my imagination than the lingerings of the holiday customs and rural games…

— Washington Irving

It is but seldom that any one overt act produces hostilities between two nations; there exists, more commonly, a previous jealousy and ill will,…

— Washington Irving