You should never assume contempt for that which it is not very manifest that you have it in your power to possess, nor does a wit ever make a more contemptible figure than when, in attempting satire, he shows that he does not understand that which he would make the subject of his ridicule.
More Quotes from Lord Melbourne:
Nobody ever did anything very foolish except from some strong principle.Lord Melbourne
It wounds a man less to confess that he has failed in any pursuit through idleness, neglect, the love of pleasure, etc., etc., which are his own faults, than through incapacity and unfitness, which are the faults of his nature.
Lord Melbourne
Your friends praise your abilities to the skies, submit to you in argument, and seem to have the greatest deference for you but, though they may ask it, you never find them following your advice upon their own affairs nor allowing you to manage your own, without thinking that you should follow theirs. Thus, in fact, they all think themselves wiser than you, whatever they may say.
Lord Melbourne
The whole duty of government is to prevent crime and to preserve contracts.
Lord Melbourne
That is no use at all. What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong.
Lord Melbourne
If it was not absolutely necessary, it was the foolishest thing ever done.
Lord Melbourne
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