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, secondly, to examine whether that on which we differ is worth contending about. Charles Caleb Colton More Quotes by Charles Caleb Colton More Quotes From Charles Caleb Colton Early rising not only gives us more life in the same number of years, but adds, likewise, to their number; and not only enables us to enjoy more of existence in the same time, but increases also the measure. Charles Caleb Colton rising-up morning years Ambition is to the mind what the cap is to the falcon; it blinds us first, and then compels us to tower by reason of our blindness. Charles Caleb Colton towers ambition mind There is this paradox in pride - it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so. Charles Caleb Colton becoming pride men Of all the marvelous works of God, perhaps the one angels view with the most supreme astonishment, is a proud man. Charles Caleb Colton angel pride god To despise our own species is the price we must often pay for knowledge of it. Charles Caleb Colton despise pay knowledge Pride requires very costly food-its keeper's happiness. Charles Caleb Colton keepers pride Pride, like the magnet, constantly points to one object, self; but, unlike the magnet, it has no attractive pole, but at all points repels. Charles Caleb Colton attractive pride self We may lay in a stock of pleasures, as we would lay in a stock of wine, but if defer tasting them too long, we shall find that both are soured by age. Charles Caleb Colton emotional wine happiness Opinions, like showers, are generated in high places, but they invariably descend into lower ones, and ultimately flow down to the people as rain unto the sea. Charles Caleb Colton sea rain people In life we shall find many men that are great, and some that are good, but very few men that are both great and good. Charles Caleb Colton greatness men True goodness is not without that germ of greatness that can bear with patience the mistakes of the ignorant. Charles Caleb Colton ignorant greatness mistake We are more inclined to hate one another for points on which we differ, than to love one another for points on which we agree. Charles Caleb Colton love-one-another despise hate Pity a thing often avowed, seldom felt; hatred is a thing often felt, seldom avowed. Charles Caleb Colton pity hate hatred With the offspring of genius, the law of parturition is reversed; the throes are in the conception, the pleasure in the birth. Charles Caleb Colton talent genius law It is a mortifying truth, and ought to teach the wisest of us humility, that many of the most valuable discoveries have been the result of chance rather than of contemplation, and of accident rather than of design. Charles Caleb Colton design humility discovery A man who knows the world will not only make the most of everything he does know, but of many things he does not know, and will gain more credit by his adroit mode of hiding his ignorance than the pedant by his awkward attempt to exhibit his erudition. Charles Caleb Colton ignorance men knowledge In the pursuit of knowledge, follow it wherever it is to be found; like fern, it is the produce of all climates, and like coin, its circulation is not restricted to any particular class. Charles Caleb Colton ferns class knowledge The highest knowledge can be nothing more than the shortest and clearest road to truth; all the rest is pretension, not performance, mere verbiage and grandiloquence, from which we can learn nothing. Charles Caleb Colton mere performances knowledge Secrecy is the soul of all great designs. Charles Caleb Colton secrecy design soul It has been observed that a dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant will see farther than the giant himself; and the moderns, standing as they do on the vantage ground of former discoveries and uniting all the fruits of the experience of their forefathers, with their own actual observation, may be admitted to enjoy a more enlarged and comprehensive view of things than the ancients themselves. Charles Caleb Colton dwarves discovery knowledge
