Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom. Charles Caleb Colton More Quotes by Charles Caleb Colton More Quotes From Charles Caleb Colton When in reading we meet with any maxim that may be of use, we should take it for our own, and make an immediate application of it, as we would of the advice of a friend whom we have purposely consulted. Charles Caleb Colton reading advice book Afflictions sent by providence melt the constancy of the noble minded, but confirm the obduracy of the vile, as the same furnace that liquefies the gold, hardens the clay Charles Caleb Colton. Charles Caleb Colton affliction noble gold That alliance may be said to have a double tie, where the minds are united as well as the body; and the union will have all its strength when both the links are in perfection together. Charles Caleb Colton ties perfection mind The mob is a monster, with the hands of Briareus, but the head of Polyphemus,--strong to execute, but blind to perceive. Charles Caleb Colton strong monsters hands The most consistent men are not more unlike to others, than they are at times to themselves. Charles Caleb Colton consistency consistent men It is better to meet danger than to wait for it. Charles Caleb Colton encounters danger waiting Death is the only sovereign whom no partiality can warp, and no price corrupt. Charles Caleb Colton warp sovereign death There are two things that bestow consequence; great possession, or great debts. Charles Caleb Colton debt possession two It is best, if possible, to deceive no one; for he that ... begins by deceiving others, will end ... by deceiving himself. Charles Caleb Colton deceiving-others deception ends As in the game of billiards, the balls are constantly producing effects from mere chance, which the most skillful player could neither execute nor foresee, but which, when they do happen, serve mainly to teach him how much he has still to learn; so it is in the most profound and complicated game of politics and diplomacy. In both cases, we can only regulate our play by what we have seen, rather than by what we have hoped; and by what we have experienced, rather than by what we have expected. Charles Caleb Colton player games profound Of two evils, it is perhaps less injurious to society, that good doctrine should be accompanied by a bad life, than that a good life should lend its support to a bad doctrine. Charles Caleb Colton good-life evil two Doubt is the vestibule which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom; therefore, when we are in doubt and puzzle out the truth by our own exertions, we have gained a something that will stay by us, and which will serve us again. But, if to avoid the trouble of the search we avail ourselves of the superior information of a friend, such knowledge will not remain with us; we have not bought but borrowed it. Charles Caleb Colton temples information doubt Envy is the coward side of Hate, And all her ways are bleak and desolate. Charles Caleb Colton envy coward hate Fashion ... has brought every thing into vogue, by turns. Charles Caleb Colton vogue turns fashion Adroit observers will find that some who affect to dislike flattery, may yet be flattered indirectly, by a well seasoned abuse and ridicule of their rivals. Charles Caleb Colton rivals abuse may Fortune has been considered the guardian divinity of fools; and, on this score, she has been accused of blindness; but it should rather be adduced as a proof of her sagacity, when she helps those who cannot help themselves. Charles Caleb Colton divinity fool helping Genius, when employed in works whose tendency it is to demoralize and to degrade us, should be contemplated with abhorrence rather than with admiration; such a monument of its power, may indeed be stamped with immortality, but like the Coliseum at Rome, we deplore its magnificence because we detest the purposes for which it was designed. Charles Caleb Colton rome genius purpose If kings would only determine not to extend their dominions until they had filled them with happiness, they would find the smallest territories too large, but the longest life too short for the full accomplishment of so grand and so noble an ambition. Charles Caleb Colton ambition kings happiness Much too oft we make life gloomy-- When happy we might be, If we gathered more of sunshine, And not dark shadows see. Charles Caleb Colton dark happiness life With respect to the authority of great names, it should be remembered that he alone deserves to have any weight and influence with posterity, who has shown himself superior to the particular and predominant error of his own times; who, like the peak of Teneriffe, has hailed the intellectual sun before its beams have reached the horizon of common minds. Charles Caleb Colton errors names mind
