It is best, if possible, to deceive no one; for he that begins by deceiving others, will end by deceiving himself.
CHARLES CALEB COLTONOur admiration of fine writing will always be in proportion to its real difficulty and its apparent ease.
More Charles Caleb Colton Quotes
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Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
He that studies books alone, will know how things ought to be; and he that studies men, will know how things are.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Some persons will tell you, with an air of the miraculous, that they recovered although they were given over; whereas they might with more reason have said, they recovered because they were given over.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Suicide sometimes proceeds from cowardice, but not always; for cowardice sometimes prevents it; since as many live because they are afraid to die, as die because they are afraid to live.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
It is easier to pretend to be what you are not than to hide what you really are; but he that can accomplish both has little to learn in hypocrisy.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Honor is unstable and seldom the same; for she feeds upon opinion, and is as fickle as her food.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Justice to my readers compels me to admit that I write because I have nothing to do; justice to myself induces me to add that I will cease to write the moment I have nothing to say.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Eloquence is the language of nature, and cannot be learned in the schools; but rhetoric is the creature of art, which he who feels least will most excel in.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
He that has energy enough to root out a vice should go further, and try to plant a virtue in its place.
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Imitation is the highest form of flattery.
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The mistakes of the fool are known to the world, but not to himself. The mistakes of the wise man are known to himself, but not to the world.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
The two most precious things this side of the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
The man of pleasure, by a vain attempt to be more happy than any man can be, is often more miserable than most men are.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Self-denial is often the sacrifice of one sort of self-love for another.
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Words indeed are but the signs and counters of knowledge, and their currency should be strictly regulated by the capital which they represent.
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Pride requires very costly food-its keeper’s happiness.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Honor is the most capricious in her rewards. She feeds us with air, and often pulls down our house, to build our monument.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Pride is less ashamed of being ignorant, than of being instructed, and she looks too high to find that, which very often lies beneath her.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
What would you do if you knew for sure that no one would ever find out?
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Deliberate with caution, but act with decision and yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Make no enemies; he is insignificant indeed that can do thee no harm.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Great men, like comets, are eccentric in their courses, and formed to do extensive good by modes unintelligible to vulgar minds.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
No man can purchase his virtue too dear, for it is the only thing whose value must ever increase with the price it has cost us. Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
Diffidence is the better part of knowledge.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
The victim to too severe a law is considered as a martyr rather than a criminal.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON -
The poorest man would not part with health for money, but the richest would gladly part with all their money for health.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON