William Hazlitt Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old William Hazlitt quotes, William Hazlitt sayings, and William Hazlitt proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

The most insignificant people are the most apt to sneer at others. They are safe from reprisals. And have no hope of rising in their own self esteem but by lowering their neighbors. William Hazlitt
Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food. William Hazlitt
The way to procure insults is to submit to them. A man meets with no more respect than he exacts. William Hazlitt
A scholar is like a book written in a dead language — it is not every one that can read in it. William Hazlitt
The humblest painter is a true scholar; and the best of scholars the scholar of nature. William Hazlitt
The world dread nothing so much as being convinced of their errors. William Hazlitt
We dread life's termination as the close, not of enjoyment, but of hope. William Hazlitt
Modesty is the lowest of the virtues, and is a real confession of the deficiency it indicates. He who undervalues himself is justly undervalued by others. William Hazlitt
Wit is, in fact, the eloquence of indifference. William Hazlitt
There is something captivating in spirit and intrepidity, to which, we often yield as to a resistless power; nor can he reasonably expect, the confidence of others who too apparently distrusts himself. William Hazlitt
Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food. William Hazlitt
Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people's weaknesses. William Hazlitt
Love at first sight is only realizing an imagination that has always haunted us; or meeting with a face, a figure, or cast of expression in perfection that we have seen and admired in a less degree or in less favorable circumstances a hundred times before. William Hazlitt
The soil of friendship is worn out with constant use. Habit may still attach us to each other, but we feel ourselves fettered by it. Old friends might be compared to old married people without the tie of children. William Hazlitt
Genius only leaves behind it the monuments of its strength. William Hazlitt
Those only deserve a monument who do not need one; that is, who have raised themselves a monument in the minds and memories of men. William Hazlitt
There is something captivating in spirit and intrepidity, to which, we often yield as to a resistless power; nor can he reasonably expect, the confidence of others who too apparently distrusts himself. William Hazlitt
The way to secure success is to be more anxious about obtaining than about deserving it. William Hazlitt
Principle is a passion for truth. William Hazlitt
Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses. William Hazlitt
A grave blockhead should always go about with a lively one - they show one another off to the best advantage. William Hazlitt
Elegance is something more than ease--more than a freedom from awkwardness and restraint.--It implies precision, a polish, and a sparkling which is spirited, yet delicate. William Hazlitt
Everything is in motion. Everything flows. Everything is vibrating. William Hazlitt
The imagination is of so delicate a texture that even words wound it. William Hazlitt
Fame is the inheritance not of the dead, but of the living. It is we who look back with lofty pride to the great names of antiquity. William Hazlitt
The imagination is of so delicate a texture that even words wound it. William Hazlitt
An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may. William Hazlitt
The incentive to ambition is the love of power. William Hazlitt
Everyone in a crowd has the power to throw dirt: nine out of ten have the inclination. William Hazlitt
First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not unfrequently) to our cost when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible professions or actions. 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. William Hazlitt