It is an awful, an appalling thought, that we may be, this moment and every moment, in the presence of malignant spirits. — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
It is folly to expect men to do all that they may reasonably be expected to do. — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
As one may bring himself to believe almost anything he is inclined to believe, it makes all the difference whether we begin… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Falsehood, like poison, will generally be rejected when administered alone; but when blended with wholesome ingredients may be swallowed unperceived. — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Sophistry, like poison, is at once detected and nauseated, when presented to us in a concentrated form; but a fallacy which, when… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Habits are formed, not at one stroke, but gradually and insensibly; so that, unless vigilant care be employed, a great change may… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
It may be worth noticing as a curious circumstance, when persons past forty before they were at all acquainted form together a… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Not in books only, nor yet in oral discourse, but often also in words there are boundless stores of moral and historic… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Those who relish the study of character may profit by the reading of good works of fiction, the product of well-established authors. — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
It may be said, almost without qualification, that true wisdom consists in the ready and accurate perception of analogies. Without the former… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Grace is in a great measure a natural gift; elegance implies cultivation; or something of more artificial character. A rustic, uneducated girl… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
As a science, logic institutes an analysis of the process of the mind in reasoning, and investigating the principles on which argumentation… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
It is a good plan, with a young person of a character to be much affected by ludicrous and absurd representations, to… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
Some persons follow the dictates of their conscience only in the same sense in which a coachman may be said to follow… — Richard Whately Copy Share Image
It is worth noticing that those who assume an imposing demeanor and seek to pass themselves off for something beyond what they are, are… — Richard Whately Copy Share
Of Rhetoric various definitions have been given by different writers; who, however, seem not so much to have disagreed in their conceptions of the… — Richard Whately Copy Share
Falsehood, like the dry-rot, flourishes the more in proportion as air and light are excluded. — Richard Whately Copy Share
Of all hostile feelings, envy is perhaps the hardest to be subdued, because hardly any one owns it even to himself, but looks out… — Richard Whately Copy Share
Geologists complain that when they want specimens of the common rocks of a country, they receive curious spars; just so, historians give us the… — Richard Whately Copy Share
Reason can no more influence the will, and operate as a motive, than the eyes which show a man his road can enable him… — Richard Whately Copy Share
Eloquence is relative. One can no more pronounce on the eloquence of any composition than the wholesomeness of a medicine, without knowing for whom… — Richard Whately Copy Share
Falsehood, like poison, will generally be rejected when administered alone; but when blended with wholesome ingredients may be swallowed unperceived. — Richard Whately Copy Share
Though not always called upon to condemn ourselves, it is always safe to suspect ourselves. — Richard Whately Copy Share
Even supposing there were some spiritual advantage in celibacy, it ought to be completely voluntary. — Richard Whately Copy Share
Some men's reputation seems like seed-wheat, which thrives best when brought from a distance. — Richard Whately Copy Share
He who is not aware of his ignorance will be only misled by his knowledge. — Richard Whately Copy Share
