Charles Caleb Colton Quotes (143 Quotes)

The drafts which true genius draws upon posterity, although they may not always be honored so soon as they are due, are sure to be paid with compound interest in the end.

Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The interests of society often render it expedient not to utter the whole truth, the interests of science never for in this field we have much more to fear from the deficiency of truth than from its abundance.

In civil jurisprudence it too often happens that there is so much law, there is no room for justice, and that the claimant expires of wrong, in the midst of right, As mariners die of thirst in the midst of water.

Two things, well considered, would prevent many quarrels first, to have it well ascertained whether we are not disputing about terms rather than things and, second, to examine whether that on which we differ is worth contending about.

He that knows himself, knows others; and he that is ignorant of himself, could not write a very profound lecture on other men's heads.

Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.

Those who visit foreign nations, but associate only with their own country-men, change their climate, but not their customs. They see new meridians, but the same men; and with heads as empty as their pockets, return home with traveled bodies, but untravelled minds.

Physical courage, which engages all danger, will make a person brave in one way and moral courage, which defies all opinion, will make a person brave in another.

Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase.

Marriage is a feast where the grace is sometimes better than the dinner.

Mystery magnifies danger, as a fog the sun, the hand that warned Belshazzar derived its horrifying effect from the want of a body.

To be obliged to beg our daily happiness from others bespeaks a more lamentable poverty than that of him who begs his daily bread.

Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them.

I'm aiming by the time I'm fifty to stop being an adolescent.

Hope is a prodigal young heir, and experience is his Banker, but his drafts are seldom honored since there is often a heavy balance against him, because he draws largely on a small capital and is not yet in possession.

Subtract from the great man all that he owes to opportunity, all that he owes to chance, and all that he gained by the wisdom of his friends and the folly of his enemies, and the giant will often be seen to be a pygmy.

The greatest genius is never so great as when it is chastised and subdued by the highest reason.

The poorest man would not part with health for money, But the richest would gladly part with all their money for health.

There is this difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so; but he that thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.

Posthumous charities are the very essence of selfishness when bequeathed by those who, even alive, would part with nothing.

Mystery is not profoundness.

Men will wrangle for religion write for it fight for it die for it anything but - live for it.

Power, like the diamond, dazzles the beholder, and also the wearer it dignifies meanness it magnifies littleness to what is contemptible, it gives authority to what is law, exaltation.

Many speak the truth when they say that they despise riches, but they mean the riches possessed by others.

There are three modes of bearing the ills of life, by indifference, by philosophy, and by religion.

Moderation is the inseparable companion of wisdom, but with it genius has not even a nodding acquaintance.

He who studies books alone will know how things ought to be, and he who studies men will know how they are.

Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair.

To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.

That writer does the most who gives his reader the most knowledge and takes from him the least time.

Avarice has ruined more souls than extravagance.

Men's arguments often prove nothing but their wishes.

He that thinks he is the happiest man, really is so. But he that thinks he is the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.

Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen. Like friends, too, we should return to them again and again for, like true friends, they will never fail us - never cease to instruct - never cloy.

When you have nothing to say, say nothing.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty; it is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed.

If you cannot inspire a woman with love of you, fill her above the brim with love of herself; all that runs over will be yours.

There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing, to find honest men to publish it, and to find sensible men to read it.

Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish.

The society of dead authors has this advantage over that of the living: they never flatter us to our faces, nor slander us behind our backs, nor intrude upon our privacy, nor quit their shelves until we take them down.

Deliberate with caution, but act with decision And yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.

There is a paradox in pride it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so.

None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.

If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition.

The seeds of repentance are sown in youth by pleasure, But the harvest is reaped in age by pain.

Nothing so completely baffles one who is full of trick and duplicity himself, than straightforward and simple integrity in another.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.

Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.