809 Quotes by William Hazlitt

Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses.

Painting for a whole morning gives one as excellent an appetite for one’s dinner, as old Abraham Tucker acquired for his by riding over Banstead Downs.

Time, – the most independent of all things.

What I mean by living to one’s self is living in the world, as in it, not of it.

The confession of our failings is a thankless office. It savors less of sincerity or modesty than of ostentation. It seems as if we thought our weaknesses as good as other people’s virtues.

True modesty and true pride are much the same thing: both consist in setting a just value on ourselves – neither more nor less.

We often choose a friend as we do a mistress – for no particular excellence in themselves, but merely from some circumstance that flatters our self-love.

The measure of any man’s virtue is what he would do, if he had neither the laws nor public opinion, nor even his own prejudices, to control him.

Gallantry to women – the sure road to their favor – is nothing but the appearance of extreme devotion to all their wants and wishes, a delight in their satisfaction, and a confidence in yourself as being able to contribute toward it.