The morals of men are more governed by their pursuits than by their opinions. A type of virtue is first formed by circumstances, and men afterwards make it the model upon which their theories are framed. — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
There have certainly been many periods in history when virtue was more rare than under the Caesars; but there has probably never been a period when vice was more extravagant or uncontrolled. — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
Faith always presented to the mind the idea of an abnormal intellectual condition, of the subversion or suspension of the critical faculties. It sometimes… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
There are times in the lives of most of us, when we would have given all the world to be as we were but… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
[Middleton] contended that the religious leaders of the fourth century had admitted, eulogised, and habitually acted upon principles that were diametrically opposed, not simply… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
The moral duty to be expected in different ages is not a unity of standard, or of acts, but a unity of tendency ...… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
The unweary, unostentatious, and inglorious crusade of England against slavery may probably be regarded as among the three or four perfectly virtuous pages comprised… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
There is no possible line of conduct which has at some time and place been condemned, and which has not at some other time… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
I venture to maintain that there are multitudes to whom the necessity of discharging the duties of a butcher would be so inexpressibly painful… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
Anxiety and Ennui are the Scylla and Charybdis on which the bark of human happiness is most often wrecked. — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
“One of the great differences between childhood and manhood is that we come to like our work more than our play. It becomes to… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
The doctrine of a material hell in its effect was to chill and deaden the sympathies, predispose men to inflict suffering, and to retard… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
All over Europe the organs that represent dogmatic interests are in permanent opposition to the progressive tendencies around them, and are rapidly sinking into… — William Edward Hartpole Lecky Copy Share Image
![“[Middleton] contended that the religious leaders of the fourth century had admitted, eulogised, and habitually acted upon principles that were diametrically opposed, not simply to the aspirations of a transcendent sanctity, but to the dictates of the most common honesty. He showed that they had…” quote by William Edward Hartpole Lecky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe6/william-edward-hartpole-lecky_adopted_middleton-contended-that-the-religious-l_484601.jpg)
