Great men, like comets, are eccentric in their courses, and formed to do extensive good by modes unintelligible to vulgar minds.
CHARLES CALEB COLTONKnowledge is two-fold, and consists not only in an affirmation of what is true, but in the negation of that which is false.
More Charles Caleb Colton Quotes
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In death itself there can be nothing terrible, for the act of death annihilates sensation; but there are many roads to death, and some of them justly formidable, even to the bravest.
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When you have nothing to say, say nothing; a weak defense strengthens your opponent, and silence is less injurious than a bad reply.
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It is better to meet danger than to wait for it.
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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.
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He that can enjoy the intimacy of the great, and on no occasion disgust them by familiarity, or disgrace himself by servility, proves that he is as perfect a gentleman by nature as his companions are by rank.
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He that is good will infallibly become better, and he that is bad will as certainly become worse; for vice, virtue, and time are three things that never stand still.
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It is with antiquity as with ancestry, nations are proud of the one, and individuals of the other; but if they are nothing in themselves, that which is their pride ought to be their humiliation.
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Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.
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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.
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Wit may do very well for a mistress, but I should prefer reason for a wife.
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Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.
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Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is that of good books.
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Most females will forgive a liberty rather than a slight.
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The true measure of your character is what you do when nobody’s watching.
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Light, whether it be material or moral, is the best reformer.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON






