809 Quotes by William Hazlitt

Literature, like nobility, runs in the blood.

In love we do not think of moral qualities, and scarcely of intellectual ones. Temperament and manner alone, with beauty, excite love.

We learn to curb our will and keep our overt actions within the bounds of humanity, long before we can subdue our sentiments and imaginations to the same mild tone.

A man must make his choice not only between virtue and vice, but between different virtues.

The imagination is of so delicate a texture that even words wound it.

By conversing with the mighty dead, we imbibe sentiment with knowledge. We become strongly attached to those who can no longer either hurt or serve us, except through the influence which they exert over the mind. We feel the presence of that power which gives immortality to human thoughts and actions, and catch the flame of enthusiasm from all nations and ages.

Walk groundly, talk profoundly, drink roundly, sleep soundly.

A man's look is the work of years; it is stamped on his countenance by the events of his whole life, nay, more by the hand of nature, and it is not to be got rid of easily.

The chain of habit coils itself around the heart like a serpent, to gnaw and stifle it.