Sydney Smith Quotes

73 quotes in 831 categories

• He who drinks a tumbler of London water has literally in his stomach more animated beings than there are men, women, and children on the…
• Take short views, hope for the best and trust in God.
• When I hear any man talk of an unalterable law, the only effect it produces on me is to convince me that he is an…
• Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between…
• A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose…
• Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love and to be loved is the greatest happiness of existence.
• Do not try to push your way through to the front ranks of your profession; do not run after distinctions and rewards; but do your…
• Manners are like the shadows of virtues, they are the momentary display of those qualities which our fellow creatures love and respect.
• Among the smaller duties of life I hardly know any one more important than that of not praising where praise is not due.
• Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed.
• A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience.
• Madam, I have been looking for a person who disliked gravy all my life; let us swear eternal friendship.
• The thing about performance, even if it's only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves…
• In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigor it will give…
• Find fault when you must find fault in private, and if possible sometime after the offense, rather than at the time.
• I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland.
• Let the Dean and Canons lay their heads together and the thing will be done.
• Never give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach.
• What would life be without arithmetic, but a scene of horrors?
• Errors, to be dangerous, must have a great deal of truth mingled with them. It is only from this alliance that they can ever obtain…

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