152 Quotes by William Shenstone

Persons who discover a flatterer, do not always disapprove him, because he imagines them considerable enough to deserve his applications.

It seems idle to rail at ambition merely because it is a boundless passion; or rather is not this circumstance an argument in its favor? If one would be employed or amused through life, should we not make choice of a passion that will keep one long in play?

I hate a style, as I do a garden, that is wholly flat and regular; that slides along like an eel, and never rises to what one can call an inequality.

Some men use no other means to acquire respect than by insisting on it; and it sometimes answers their purpose, as it does a highwayman's in regard to money.

People can commend the weather without envy.

Patience is the panacea; but where does it grow, or who can swallow it?

So sweetly she bade me adieu, I thought that she bade me return.

Nothing is certain in London but expense.

Offensive objects, at a proper distance, acquire even a degree of beauty.