Fame has no necessary conjunction with praise; it may exist without the breath of a word: it is a recognition of excellence which must be felt, but need not be spoken. Even the envious must feel it: feel it, and hate in silence. Washington Allston More Quotes by Washington Allston More Quotes From Washington Allston The only competition worthy of a wise man is with himself. Washington Allston wiseadventuremen Distinction is the consequence, never the object of a great mind. Washington Allston objectsdistinctionmind Never judge a work of art by its defects. Washington Allston umpiresjudgingart The most intangible, and therefore the worst, kind of a lie is a half truth. This is the peculiar device of a conscientious detractor. Washington Allston peculiarhalflying Never expect justice from a vain man; if he has the negative magnanimity not to disparage you, it is the most you can expect. Washington Allston vanityjusticemen The most common disguise of Envy is in praise of what is subordinate. Washington Allston envypraisecommon I cannot believe that any man who deserved fame ever labored for it; that is, directly. For, as fame is but the contingent of excellence, it would be like an attempt to project a shadow, before its substance was obtained. Washington Allston excellencemenbelieve It is my greatest misfortune to be too lazy, and by the few mortifications I have already set with on that account I predict many evils in my future life. I have always the inclination to do what I ought; but by continually procrastinating for tomorrow the business of today, I insensibly delay, until at the end of one month I find myself in the same place as when I began it. Washington Allston delaylazyevil Reputation is but a synonym of popularity: dependent on suffrage, to be increased or diminished at the will of the voters. Washington Allston popularityreputationvoters If the whole world should agree to speak nothing but truth, what an abridgment it would make of speech! And what an unravelling there would be of the invisible webs which men, like so many spiders, now weave about each other! Washington Allston truthmenworld Desert being the essential condition of praise, there can be no reality in the one without the other. Washington Allston desertessentialsreality Titian, Tintoretto, and Paul Veronese absolutely enchanted me, for they took away all sense of subject... It was the poetry of color which I felt, procreative in its nature, giving birth to a thousand things which the eye cannot see, and distinct from their cause. Washington Allston coloreyegiving In the same degree that we overrate ourselves, we shall underrate others. Washington Allston degrees I am inclined to think from my own experience that the difficulty to eminence lies not in the road, but in the timidity of the traveler. Washington Allston travelerlyingthinking He who has no pleasure in looking up, is not fit so much as to look down. Washington Allston respectfitlooks If an Artist love his Art for its own sake, he will delight in excellence wherever he meets it, as well in the work of another as in his own. Washington Allston delightexcellenceart The greatest of all fools is the proud fool--who is at the mercy of every fool he meets. Washington Allston foolproudmercy Reverence is an ennobling sentiment; it is felt to be degrading only by the vulgar mind, which would escape the sense of its own littleness by elevating itself into an antagonist of what is above it. He that has no pleasure in looking up is not fit so much as to look down. Of such minds are mannerists in Art; in the world, tyrants of all sorts. Washington Allston tyrantsmindart If I prove extravagant, I shall be more so from ignorance than willfulness. I am not wholly insensible to the pleasures of the world, therefore shall not be governed entirely by necessity; but I flatter myself, at least, in being able to restrain their gratification within due bonds. Washington Allston ableignoranceworld All effort at originality must end either in the quaint or the monstrous. For no man knows himself as an original; he can only believe it on the report of others. Washington Allston effortmenbelieve
