He that aspires to be the head of a party will find it more difficult to please his friends than to perplex his foes. He must often act from false reasons which are weak, because he dares not avow the true reasons which are strong. Charles Caleb Colton More Quotes by Charles Caleb Colton More Quotes From Charles Caleb Colton The masses procure their opinions ready made in open market. Charles Caleb Colton mass opinion made Posthumous fame is a plant of tardy growth, for our body must be the seed of it; or we may liken it to a torch, which nothing but the last spark of life can light up; or we may compare it to the trumpet of the archangel, for it is blown over the dead; but unlike that awful blast, it is of earth, not of heaven, and can neither rouse nor raise us. Charles Caleb Colton growth light heaven Fashion is the veriest goddess of semblance and of shade; to be happy is of far less consequence to her worshippers than to appear so; even pleasure itself they sacrifice to parade, and enjoyment to ostentation. Charles Caleb Colton shade sacrifice fashion There are some men who are fortune's favorites, and who, like cats, light forever on their legs. Charles Caleb Colton cat light men Natural good is' so intimately connected with moral good, and natural evil with moral evil, that I am as certain as if I heard a voice from heaven proclaim it, that God is on the side of virtue. He has learnt much, and has not lived in vain, who has practically discovered that most strict and necessary connection, that does and will ever exist between vice and misery, and virtue and happiness. Charles Caleb Colton voice evil heaven Speaking generally, no man appears great to his contemporaries, for the same reason that no man is great to his servants--both know too much of him. Charles Caleb Colton greatness too-much men It is almost as difficult to make a man unlearn his errors as his knowledge. Charles Caleb Colton habit errors men Happiness is much more equally divided than some of us imagine. One man shall possess most of the materials, but little of the thing; another may possess much of the thing, but very few of the material. In this particular view of it, happiness had been beautifully compared to the man in the desert--he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack. Charles Caleb Colton views happiness men Happiness is that single and glorious thing which is the very light and sun of the whole animated universe; and where she is not it were better that nothing should be. Charles Caleb Colton light sun happiness Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we sacrifice one kind of self-love to another. Charles Caleb Colton sacrifice self spring It is much easier to ruin a man of principle than a man of none, for he may be ruined through his scruples. Knavery is supple and can bend; but honesty is firm and upright, and yields not. Charles Caleb Colton yield honesty men It is with honesty in one particular as with wealth,--those that have the thing care less about the credit of it than those who have it not. No poor man can well afford to be thought so, and the less of honesty a finished rogue possesses the less he can afford to be supposed to want it. Charles Caleb Colton credit honesty men Honor is the most capricious in her rewards. She feeds us with air, and often pulls down our house, to build our monument. Charles Caleb Colton honor air house Love is an alchemist that can transmute poison into food--and a spaniel, that prefers even punishment from one hand to caresses from another. But it is in love as in war, we are often more indebted for our success to the weakness of the defence than to the energy of the attack; for mere idleness has ruined more women than passion; vanity more than idleness, and credulity more than either. Charles Caleb Colton passion love war The plainest man that can convince a woman that he is really in love with her has done more to make her in love with him than the handsomest man, if he can produce no such conviction. For the love of woman is a shoot, not a seed, and flourishes most vigorously only when ingrafted on that love which is rooted in the breast of another. Charles Caleb Colton done love men The awkwardness and embarrassment which all feel on beginning to write, when they themselves are the theme, ought to serve as a hint to author's that self is a subject they ought very rarely to descant upon. Charles Caleb Colton hints self writing Emulation has been termed a spur to virtue, and assumes to be a spur of gold. But it is a spur composed of baser materials, and if tried in the furnace will be found to want that fixedness which is the characteristic of gold. He that pursues virtue, only to surpass others, is not far from wishing others less forward than himself; and he that rejoices too much at his own perfections will be too little grieved at the defects of other men. Charles Caleb Colton gold perfection men Make no enemies; he is insignificant indeed that can do thee no harm. Charles Caleb Colton harm thee enemy As there are some faults that have been termed faults on the right side, so there are some errors that might be denominated errors on the safe side. Thus we seldom regret having been too mild, too cautious, or too humble; but we often repent having been too violent, too precipitate, or too proud. Charles Caleb Colton errors regret humble There is this paradox in fear: he is most likely to inspire it in others who has none himself! Charles Caleb Colton paradox fear inspire
