We prefer a person with vivacity and high spirits, though bordering upon insolence, to the timid and pusillanimous; we are fonder of… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Art is the microscope of the mind, which sharpens the wit as the other does the sight; and converts every object into… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Poetry is only the highest eloquence of passion, the most vivid form of expression that can be given to our conception of… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Humour is the making others act or talk absurdly and unconsciously; wit is the pointing out and ridiculing that absurdity consciously, and… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
The idea of what the public will think prevents the public from ever thinking at all, and acts as a spell on… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Every man depends on the quantity of sense, wit, or good manners he brings into society for the reception he meets with… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Humour is the describing the ludicrous as it is in itself; wit is the exposing it, by comparing or contrasting it with… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Silence is one great art of conversation. He is not a fool who knows when to hold his tongue; and a person… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me, and… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Wit is the rarest quality to be met with among people of education, and the most common among the uneducated. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
The discussing the characters and foibles of common friends is a great sweetness and cement of friendship. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner doing it. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the… — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image
Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect. — William Hazlitt Copy Share Image