William Gilmore Simms Quotes

27 quotes in 284 categories

• Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful; the proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.
• The dread of criticism is the death of genius.
• He who would acquire fame must not show himself afraid of censure. The dread of censure is the death of genius.
• The amiable is a duty most certainly, but must not be exercised at the expense of any of the virtues. He who seeks to do…
• Our true acquisitions lie only in our charities - we gain only as we give.
• Not in sorrow freely is never to open the bosom to the sweets of the sunshine.
• Tact is one of the first mental virtues, the absence of which is often fatal to the best of talents; it supplies the place of…
• The true law of the race is progress and development. Whenever civilization pauses in the march of conquest, it is overthrown by the barbarian.
• No errors of opinion can possibly be dangerous in a country where opinion is left free to grapple with them.
• Neither praise nor blame is the object of true criticism. Justly to discriminate, firmly to establish, wisely to prescribe and honestly to award - these…
• To make punishments efficacious, two things are necessary. They must never be disproportioned to the offence, and they must be certain.
• Genius is the very eye of intellect and the wing of thought; it is always in advance of its time, and is the pioneer for…
• The proverb answers where the sermon fails.
• Tears are the natural penalties of pleasure. It is a law that we should pay for all that we enjoy.
• The apothegm is the most portable form of Truth.... It is thus that the proverb answers where the sermon fails, as a well-charged pistol will…
• I listen to them freely and with all the respect merited by their intelligence, their character, their knowledge, reserving always my incontestable right of criticism…
• Have I done anything for society? I have then done more for myself. Let that question and truth be always present to thy mind, and…
• The only true source of politeness is consideration.
• I believe that economists put decimal points in their forecasts to show they have a sense of humor.
• Tact is one of the first mental virtues, the absence of it is fatal to the best talent.

Browse William Gilmore Simms Quotes by Category