Quotes: Character (7)

The idea in the bold-face print is an interpretation of the quote that follows. The number is the page where the quote was found.



Character 57 People are ridiculous when they pretend to be what they are not. "...for there is nothing truer than the trite observation, ‘that people are never ridiculous for being what they really are, but for affecting what they are not." Lord Chesterfield. “Upon Affectation.” 1755. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 70 You can learn more about a person from a short conversation with his servent than from writing a full-length biography. " ...more knowledge may be gained of a man’s real character by a short conversation with one of his servants than from a formal and studied narrative begun with his pedigree and ended with his funeral. "Samuel Johnson. “Dignity and Uses of Biography.” 1750. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 72 Few are envied more than the person whose company is anticipated and departure regretted. "Few are more frequently envied than those who have the power of forcing attention wherever they come, whose entrance is considered as a promise of felicity, and whose departure is lamented." Samuel Johnson. “Conversation.” 1751. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 75 Promoting cheerfulness is an art. "Such are the arts by which cheerfulness is promoted...." Samuel Johnson. “Conversation.” 1751. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 91 Those who ridicule others are most likely to be ridiculed. "I could not, however, help observing, ‘that they are generally most ridiculous themselves, who are apt to see most ridicule in others.’ "Oliver Goldsmith. “On Dress.” 1759. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 258 We suppress the confession of our woes. " ...we early apprentice ourselves to the art of self-suppression and sternly apply the gag to eloquence upon our own woes. Mark Rutherford." “Talking about Our Troubles.” 1900. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 273 People are perpetually saddened by the great things they will not try. "...with men and women, in their mixed and uncertain condition, always attractive, clothed sometimes by passion with a character of loveliness and energy, but saddened perpetually by the shadow upon them of the great things from which they shrink." Walter Pater. “Sandro Boticelli.” 1870. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 535 Complete understanding promotes good will. " …humorous good will of complete understanding. Sir William Empson." “The Faces of Buddha.” 1936. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 632 Ignoring reality leads to self-destruction. "People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction." James Baldwin. “Stranger in the Village.” 1953. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 651 The confidence of one who has solved his problems. "…not authority but confidence, completedness, a man who had solved his problems and now stood on top of the hill looking calmly back and calmly on." P.J. Kavanagh. “Is It Alas, Yorick?” 1983. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 654 I am not sure about people who have figured out life. "For I am never at ease with those who have come too surely to terms with life." P.J. Kavanagh. “Is It Alas, Yorick?” 1983. Gross, ed. Essays.


Character 6 She had a warm heart, but she knew how to govern her feelings. "She [Elinor] had an excellent heart;--her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them; it was a knowledge which her mother had yet to learn, and which one of her sisters had resolved never to be taught." Austen, Sense and Sensibility.


Character 6 Her feelings were never expressed in moderation. "Marianne…was sensible and clever; but eager in everything; her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation…." Austen, Sense and Sensibility.