What all the wise men promised has not happened and what all the dammed fools said would happen has come to pass. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne More Quotes by William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne More Quotes From William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Be not over solicitous about education. It may be able to do much, but it does not do as much as expected from it. It may mould and direct the character, but it rarely alters it. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne doe may character Neither man nor woman can be worth anything until they have discovered that they are fools. The sooner the discovery is made the better, as there is more time and power for taking advantage of it. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne fool discovery men My esoteric doctrine, is that if you entertain any doubt, it is safest to take the unpopular side in the first instance. Transit from the unpopular, is easy... but from the popular to the unpopular is so steep and rugged that it is impossible to maintain it. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne doctrine principles doubt That is no use at all. What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne support use men Nobody ever did anything very foolish except from some strong principle. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne strong principles character It doesn't matter what we say , so long as we all say the same thing. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne unity matter long Neither man nor woman can be worth anything until they have discovered that they are fools. wThis is the first step towards becoming either estimable or agreeable; and until it be taken there is no hope. wThe sooner the discovery is made the better, as there is more time and power for taking advantage of it. Sometimes the great truth is found out too late to apply to it any effectual remedy.w Sometimes it is never found at all; and these form the desperate and inveterate causes of folly, self-conceit, and impertinence. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne taken truth time It is not much matter which we say, but mind, we must all say the same. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne agreement matter mind [F]riends praise your abilities to the skies, submit to you in argument, and seem to have the greatest deference for you; but, though they may ask it, you never find them following your advice upon their own affairs; nor allowing you to manage your own. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne sky may advice I wish I was as cocksure of anything as Tom Macaulay is of everything. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne self-confidence confidence wish The whole duty of government is to prevent crime and to preserve contracts. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne contracts crime government While I cannot be regarded as a pillar, I must be regarded as a buttress of the church, because I support it from outside. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne support church religion Things are coming to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade private life. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne privacy life religion What I like about the Order of the Garter is that there is no damned merit about it. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne merit awards order A doctrinaire is a fool but an honest man. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne fool principles men Neither man nor woman can be worth anything until they have discovered that they are fools. This is the first step towards becoming either estimable or agreeable; and until it be taken there is no hope. The sooner the discovery is made the better, as there is more time and power for taking advantage of it. Sometimes the great truth is found out too late to apply to it any effectual remedy. Sometimes it is never found at all; and these form the desperate and inveterate causes of folly, self-conceit, and impertinence. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne It wounds a man less to confess that he has failed in any pursuit through idleness, neglect, the love of pleasure, etc., etc., which are his own faults, than through incapacity and unfitness, which are the faults of his nature. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne If it was not absolutely necessary, it was the foolishest thing ever done. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Wealth is so much the greatest good that Fortune has to bestow that in the Latin and English languages it has usurped her name. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne You should never assume contempt for that which it is not very manifest that you have it in your power to possess, nor does a wit ever make a more contemptible figure than when, in attempting satire, he shows that he does not understand that which he would make the subject of his ridicule. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
