A tender heart; a will inflexible.
a. Lohgfkllow—Christus. Pt. III. The
New England Tragedies. John
Endicott. Act III. Sc. 2.
In this world a man must either be anvil or hammer. 6. Longfellow—Hyperion. Bk. IV.
Ch. VI.
Not in the clamor of the crowded street,
Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,
But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat,
e. Longfellow—The Poets.
Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift in atoning for error.
Blandish. Pt. IX. The Wedding
Day.
So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,
So patient, peaceful, loyal, loving, pure.
e. Longfellow—Christus. Tlte Golden
Legend. Pt. V. L. 319.
Thou hast the patience and the faith of Saints.
/. Longfellow—Christus. Pt. III. The
New England Tragedies. John
Endicott. Act III. Sc. 3.
All that hath been majestical
In life or death, since time began,
Is native in the simple heart of all,
The angel heart of man.
g. Lowell—An Incident in a Railroad
Car. St. 10.
A nature wise
With finding in itself the types of all,—
With watching from the dim verge of the
time
What things to be are visible in the gleams Thrown forward on them from the luminous
past,—
Wise with the history of its own frail heart, With reverence and sorrow, and with love, Broad as the world, for freedom and for man. h. Lowell—Prometheus. L. 216.
Endurance is the crowning quality,
And patience all the passion of great hearts,
t. Lowell—Columbus. L. 237.
For me Fate gave, whate'er she else denied,
A nature sloping to the southern side:
I thank her for it, though when clouds arise
Such natures double-darken gloomy skies.
j. Lowell—An Epistle to George William
Curtis. Postscript 1887. L. 53.
For she was jes' the quiet kind
Whose nature never vary,
Like streams that keep a summer mind
Snowhid in Jenooary.
k. Lowell—TV Courtin. St. 22.
It is by presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of a man is tested.
I. Lowell—My Study Windova.
Abraham Lincoln.
Our Pilgrim stock wnzpethed with hardihood, m. Lowell—Biglow Papers. Second
Series. No. 6. L. 38.
Soft-heartedness, in times like these,
Shows sof'ness in the upper story.
n. Lowell—Biglow Papers. Second
Series. No. 7. L. 119.
To judge human character rightly, a man may sometimes have very small experience, provided he has a very large heart.
o. Bulweb-lytton— What Will He Do
With It t Bk. V. Ch. IV.
And the chief-justice was rich, quiet, and infamous. p. Macaulay—On Warren Hastings. 1841.
We hardly know any instance of the strength and weakness of human nature so striking and so grotesque as the character of this haughty, vigilant, resolute, sagacious blue-stocking, half Mithridates and half Trissotin, bearing up against a world in arms, with an ounce of poison in one pocket and a quire of bad verses in the other.
q. Macaulay—On Frederick the Great.
1842.
Now will I show myself to have more of the serpent than the dove; that is—more knave than fool.
r. Marlowe—The Jew of Malta. Act II.
Sc. 3.
Who knows nothing base,
Fears nothing known,
s. Owen Meredith (Lord Lytton)—
A Great Man. St. 8.
Sae true his heart, sae smooth his speech,
His breath like cauler air, His very foot has music in 't, As he comes up the stair. t. Mickle—There's nae Luck About the House. (Attributed also to Jean Adam.)
Great thoughts, great feelings, came to them, Like instincts, unawares. «. Rich. Monckton Milnes.—The Men of
Old.
Adam the goodliest man of men since born
His sons, the fairest of her daughters, Eve.
v. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. IV.
L. 323. CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
For contemplation he and valor formed, For softness she and sweet attractive grace. a. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. IV.
L. 297.
Her virtue and the conscience of her worth, That would be wooed, and not unsought be won.
0. Milton—Paradise Loit. Bk. VIII.
L. 502.
He that has light within his own clear breast May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day: But he that hides a dark soul and foul
thoughts
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;
Himself is his own dungeon.
c. Milton—Gomus. L. 381.
Ofttimes nothing profits more Than self-esteem, grounded on just and right Well manag'd.
d. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. VIII.
L. 571.
Quips and Cranks and wanton Wiles,
Nods and Becks and wreathed Smiles.
«. Milton—L' Allegro. L. 27.
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall. /. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. III.
L.99.
Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved.
g. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. H.
L. 185.
Yet, where an equal poise-of hope and fear
Does arbitrate the event, my nature is
That I incline to hope rather than fear.
And gladly banish squint suspicion.
A. Milton—Comus. L. 410.
Good at a fight, but better at a play;
Godlike in giving, but the devil to pay.
1. Moore—On a Cast of Sheridan t Hand.
To those who know thee not, no words can
paint; And those who know thee. know all words are
faint!
j. Hannah Mohe—Sensibility.
I see the right, and I approve it too,
Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong
pursue,
t. Ovid—Metamorphoses. VII.
Every man has at times in his mind the ideal of what he should be, but is not. This ideal may be high and complete, or it may be quite low and insufficient; yet in all men that really seek to improve, it is better than the actual character. * * Man never falls so low that he can see nothing higher than himself.
1. Theodore Parker—Critical and
Miscellaneous Writings. Essay I. A
Lesson for the Day.
Yet, if he would, man cannot live all to this world. If not religious, he will be superstitious. If he worship not the true God, he will have his idols. m. Theodore Parker—Critical and
Miscellaneous Writings. Essay L A
Lesson for the Day.
Studious of ease, and fond of humble things.
H. Ambrose Philips—From Holland to
a Friend in England.
Grand, gloomy and peculiar, he sat upon the throne, a sceptred hermit, wrapped in the solitude of his awful originality.
o. Charles Phillips—Character of
Napoleon I. Historical.
Beauty that shocks you, parts that none will
trust, Wit that can creep, and pride that licks tke
dust. p. Pope—Prologue to Satires. L. 332.
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. q. Popb— Rape of the Lock. Canto V.
L. 34.
Fine by defect and delicately weak.
r. Pope—Moral Essays. Ep. II. L. 43.
From loveless youth to unrespected age,
No passion gratified, except her rage,
So much the fury still outran the wit,
That pleasure miss'd her, and the scandal hit.
s. Pope—Moral Essays. Ep. II. L. 126.
Good-humor only teaches charms to last.
Still makes new conquests and maintains the
past.
t. Pope— Epistle to Mrs. Slount. With the Works of Voiture.
Heav'n forming each on other to depend,
A master, or a servant, or a friend.
Bids each on other for assistance call,
Till one man's weakness grows the strength of
all. u. Pope—Essay on Man. Ep. II. L. 250.
In men we various ruling passions find;
In women two almost divide the kind;
Those only fixed, they first or last obey,
The love of pleasure, and the love ot sway.
v. Pope—Moral Essays. Ep. II. L. 207.
'Tis from high Life high Characters are
drawn;
A Saint in Crape is twice a Saint in Lawn:
A Judge is just, a Chanc'llor juster still;
A Gownman learn'd; a Bishop what you
will;
Wise if a minister; but if a King,
More wise, more learn'd, more just, more
ev'rythinp. w. Pope— Moral Essays. Ep. I. Pt. II. CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
What then remains, but well our power to
use,
And keep good-humor still whatc'er we lose? And trust me, dear, good-humor can prevail, When airs, and flights, and screams, and
scolding fail. a. f Of s—Rape of the Lock. Canto V.
L. 29.
Who ne'er knew joy but friendship might
divide,
Or gave his father grief but when he died. 6. Pope—Epitaph on the Hon. S. Harcourt.
With too much Quickness ever to be taught; With too much Thinking to have common Thought.
c. Pope—Moral Essays. Ep. II. L. 97.
No man's defects sought they to know;
So never made themselves a foe.
No man's good deeds did they commend ;
80 never rais'd themselves a friend.
d. I'rioe—An Epitaph.
So much his courage and his mercy strive, He wounds to cure, and conquers to forgive. «. Pbiob—Ode in Imitation of Horace.
Bk. III. Ode II.
He that sweareth
Till no man trust him,
He that lieth
Till no man believe him;
He that borroweth
Till no man will lend him;
Let him go where
No man knoweth him.
/. Hugh Rhodes—Cautions.
The Good are better made by 111,
As odours crushed are sweeter still 1
g. Sam'l Rogers—Jacqueline. St. 3.
Was never eie did see that face,
Was never care did heare that tong,
Was never minde did rninde his grace,
That ever thought the travell long,
But eies and eares and ev'ry thought
Were with his sweete perfections caught. h. Mathew Royden—An Elegie. On the Death of Sir Philip Sidney.
It is of the utmost importance that a nation should have a correct standard by which to weigh the character of its rulers.
t. Lord John Russell—Introduction to
the 3rd Vol. of the Correspondence of the Duke of Bedford.
Be tliou familiar, but by no means vulgar. j. Hamlet. Act I. So. 3. L. 61.
But I have that within which passeth show ; These, but the trappings and the suits of woe. k. Hamlet. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 84.
Good name in man and woman, dear my
lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis some-
thing, nothing.
I. Othello. Act HI. Sc. 3. L. 156.
* * * * *
He hath a daily beauty in his life
. That makes me ugly.
m. Othello. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 19.
He is deformed, crooked, old, and sere,
Ill-faced, worse-bodied, shapeless everywhere;
Vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind,
Stigmatical in making, worse in mind.
n. Comedy of Errors. Act IV. Sc. 2.
L. 19.
He wants wit that wants resolved will.
o. Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act II.
Sc. 6. L. 12.
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles ;
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate;
****** His heart as far from fraud as heaven from
earth. p. Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act II.
Sc. 7. L. 75.
How this grace Speaks his own standing! what a mental
power
This eye shoots forth! How big imagination Moves in this lip 1 to'the dumbness of the gesture
One might interpret. q. Timon of Athens. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 30.
I am no proud Jack, like Palstaff; but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a good boy. r. Henry IV. Pt. I. Act II. Sc. 4.
L. 12.
I do profess to be no less than I seem ; to serve him truly that will put me in trust; to love him that is honest; to converse with him that is wise, and says little; to fear judgment; to fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.
s. King Lear. Act I. Sc. 4. L. 14.
I grant him bloody, Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin That has a name.
t. Macbeth. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 57.
I know him a notorious liar, Think him a great way fool, solely a coward ; Yet these fix'd evils sit so fit in him, That they take place, when virtue's steely
bones
Look bleak i' the cold wind,
u. All's Well That Ends Well. Act I.
Sc. 1. L. Ill
84
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
Long is it since I saw him,
But time bath nothing blur'd those lines of
favour
Which then he wore. a. Cymbeline. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 104.
Look, as I blow this feather from my face, And as the air blows it to me again, Obeying with my wind when I do blow, And yielding to another when it blows, Commanded always by the greater gust; Such is the lightness of you common men. 6. Henry VI. Pt. III. Act III. Sc. 1.
L. 85.
Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues We write in water.
c. Henry VIII. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 46.
Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her
time: Some that will evermore peep through their
eyes,
And laugh, like parrots, at a bagpiper:
And other of such vinegar aspect
That they'll not show their teeth in way of
smile,
Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.
d. Merchant of Venice. Act 1. Sc. 1.
L. 51.
Now do I play the touch,
To try if thou be current gold indeed.
e. Richard III. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 9.
O do not slander him, for he is kind ;
Right
As snow in harvest.
/. Richard III. Act 1. Sc. 4. L. 247.
O, he sits high in all the people's hearts: And that which would appear offence in us. His countenance, like richest alchemy, " Will change to virtue and to worthiness. g. Julius Csssar. Act 1. Sc. 3. L. 157.
There is a kind of character in thy life,
That to the observer doth thy history
Fully unfold.
ft. Measure for Measure. Act I. Sc. 1.
L. 28.
There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good fellowship in thee.
t. Henry IV. Pt, I. Act I. Sc.2. L. 154.
The trick of singularity. j. Twelfth Night. Act II. Sc. 5. L. 164.
Thou art most rich, being poor; Most choice, forsaken; and most lov'd, de-
spis'd I
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon :
*. King Lear. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 252.
Though I am not splenitive and rash,
Yet have I something in me dangerous.
1. Ilamltt. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 285.
What a frosty-spirited rogue is this!
m. Henry IV. Pt. I. Act II. Sc. 3.
L.a.
What thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play
false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win.
n. Macbeth. Act 1. Sc. 5. L. 21.
When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.
0. Merchant of Venice. Act I. Sc. 2.
L. 94.
Why, now I see there's mettle in thee, and even from this instant do build on thee a 1 H-i- ter opinion than ever before.
p. Othello. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 205.
You are thought here to be the most senseless and fit man for the constable of the watch; therefore bear you the lantern.
q. Much Ado About Nothing. Act HI.
Sc. 3. L. 20.
I'm called away by particular business. But I leave my character behind me. r. Sheridan—School for Scandal. Act II.
8c.2.
Lax in their gaiters, laxer in their gait.
1. James Smith— The Theatre.
Daniel Webster struck me much like a steam engine in trousers.
t. Sydney Smith—Lady Holland's
Memoir. Vol. I. P. 267.
A bold bad man!
u. Spenseb—Faerie Queene. Bk. I.
Canto I. St. 37.
Worth, courage, honor, these indeed
Your sustenance and birthright are.
v. E. C. Stedman—Beyond the Portals.
Pt. 10.
Yet though her mien carries much more invitation than command, to behold her is an immediate check to loose behaviour; and to love her is a liberal education.
w. Stekle— Taller. No. 49.
High characters (cries one), and he would see Things that ne'er were, nor are, nor e'er will
be. x. Sib John Suckling—The Goblin's
Epilogue.
The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.
y. . Charles Summer—Oration on the True Grandeur of Nations
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
85
With every man there are good spirits and evil spirits ; by good spirits, man has conjunction with heaven, and by evil spirits with hell.
a. Swedenbohu—Heaven and Hell.
Par. 292.
His own character is the arbiter of every one's
fortune. 6. Publics Stbus—Maxims. 286.
Fame is what you have taken,
Character's what you give; When to this truth you waken,
Then you begin to live.
c. Bayakd Taylob—Improvisations.
St. XI.
The hearts that dare are quick to feel;
The hands that wound are soft to heal.
d. Batabd Taylok—Soldiers of Peace.
Such souls,
Whose sudden visitations daze the world, Vanish like lightning, but they leave behind A voice that in the distance far away Wakens the slumbering ages.
e. Henby Taylob—Philip Van Artevelde.
Ft. I. Act I. Sc. 7.
He makes no friend who never made a foe. /. Tennyson—Idylls of the King.
Launcelot and Elaine. L. 1109.
His honor rooted in dishonor stood,
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.
g. Tennyson—Idylls of the King.
Launcelot and Elaine. L. 885.
She with all the charm of woman,
She with all the breadth of man.
A. Tennyson—Locksley Hall Sixty
Years After. L. 48.
None but himself can be his parallel. «. Lewis Theobald—Tlie Double
Falsehood.
Whoe'er amidst the sons Of reason, valor, liberty and virtue, Displays distinguished merit, is a noble Of Nature's own creating. j. Thomson—Cnriolamu. Act III. Sc. 3.
Just men, by whom impartial laws were given, And saints, who taught and led the way to
heaven!
k. Tickell—On the Death of Mr. Addison.
L. 41.
Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed A fairer spirit, or more welcome shade.
I. Tickell—On the Death of Mr. Addison.
L. 45.
Though lone the way as that already trod, Cling to thine own integrity and God I m. H. T. Tcckebman—Sonnet. To One
Deceived.
I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an " Honest Man."
n. Geoboe Washington—Moral Maxims.
Lord of the golden tongue and smiting eyes ;
Great out of season and untimely wise:
A man whose virtue, genius, grandeur, worth,
Wrought deadlier ill than ages can undo,
o. Wm. Watson—The Political Luminary.
Charity and personal force are the only investments worth anything. p. Walt Whitman—Leaves of Grass.
Manhattan's Streets I Sauntered,
Pondering. St. 6.
Formed on the good old plan,
A true and brave and downright honest man!
He blew no trumpet in the market-place,
Nor in the church with hypocritic face
Supplied with cant the lack of Christian
grace;
Loathing pretence, he did with cheerful will What others talked of while their hands were
still. g. Whittier—Daniel Neall. II.
And through the heat of conflict keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw.
T. Wobdsworth—Character of a Happy
Warrior. L. 53.
But who, if he be called upon to face
Some awful moment to which Heaven has
joined
Great issues, good or bad for humankind,
Is happy as a lover.
s. Wobdswobth—Character of a Happy Warrior. L. 48.
One that would peep and botanize
Upon his mother's grave.
t. Wordsworth—A Poet's Epitaph. St. 5.
The reason firm, the temperate will, Endurance, foresight, strength and skill. u. Wordsworth—She was a Phantom of
Delight.
Whom neither shape of danger can dismay,
Nor thought of tender happiness betray.
v. Wordsworth—Character of a Happy
Warrior. L. 72.
The man that makes a character, makes foes. w. Young—Epistles to Mr. Pope. Ep. 1.
L. 28.
The man who consecrates his hours By vig'rous effort and an honest aim, At once he draws the sting of life and death ; He walks with nature and her paths are peace. x. Youno—Night Thoughts. Night II.
L. 187.
Showing posts with label Quotations on Character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quotations on Character. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Quotations on Character
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But dotli suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
a. Tempest. Act. 1. Sc. 2. L. 396.
I am not so nice, To change true rules for old inventions.
b. Taming of the Shrew. Act III. Sc. 1.
L. 80.
Now, the melancholy god protect thee; and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal.
c. Twelfth Night. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 74.
That we would do, We should do when we would; for this
"would" changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;
And then this " should " is like a spendthrift
sigh,
That hurts by easing.
d. Hamlet. Act IV. Sc. 7. L. 119.
The love of wicked men converts to fear ; That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both To worthy danger and deserved death.
e. Richard II. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 65.
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him :
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do. /. Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 352.
This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange That even our loves should with our fortunes
change. g. Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 210.
When we were happy we had other names.
h. King John. Act V. Sc. 4. L. 7.
Life may change, but it may fly not;
Hope may vanish, but can die not;
Truth be veiled, but still it burneth ;
Love repulsed,—but it roturneth.
t. Shelley—Hellas. Semi-chorus.
Men must reap the things they sow,
Force from force must ever flow,
Or worse; but'tis a bitter woe
That love or reason cannot change.
j. Shelley—Lines Written among the
Euganr.au Hills. L. 232.
Nought may endure but Mutability. k. Shklley—Mutability.
This sad vicissitude of things.
1. Laurence Sterne—Sermons. XVI.
The Character of Shimel.
The life of any one can by no means be changed after deatli; an evil life can in no wise be converted into a good life, or an infernal into an angelic life: because every spirit, from head to foot, is of the character of his love, and, therefore, of his life; and to convert this life into its opposite, would be to destroy the spirit utterly.
m. Swedenbobq—Heaven and Hell. 527.
White rose in red rose-garden
Is not so white;
Snowdrops, that plead for pardon
And pine for fright
Because the hard East blows
Over their maiden vows,
Grow not as this face grows from pale to bright.
n. Swinburne—Before the Mirror.
Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward,
forward let us range. Let the great world spin forever down the
ringing grooves of change.
o. Tennyson—Locksley Hall. St. 91.
The stone that is rolling, can gather no moss.
Who often remorcth is suer of loss.
p. Tusser—Five Hundred Points of Good
Ihisbandry. Lessons. St. 46.
Life is arched with changing skies:
Rarely are they what they seem :
Children we of smiles and sighs—
Much we know, but more we dream.
q. William Winter—Light and Shadow.
" A jolly place," said he, " in times of old ! But something ails it now ; the spot is curst." r. Wordsworth—Hart-leap Well. Pt, II.
As high as we have mounted in delight
In our dejection do we sink as low.
*. Wordsworth—Resolution and
Independence. St. 4.
CHAOS.
Temple and tower went down, nor left n
site:—
Chaos of ruins!
t. Byron—Childe Harold. Canto IV.
St. 80.
The chaos of events.
«. Byron—The Prophecy of Dante.
Canto II. L. 6.
The world was void,
The populous and the powerful was a lump, Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless—
A lump of death—a chaos of hard clay. v. Byron—Darkness. L. 69.
/
CHAOS.
CHARACTER.
7T
Chaog, that reigns here In double night of darkness and of shades. a. Milton—Comus. L. 334.
Fate shall yield
To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife. 6. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. II.
L. 232.
Where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of nature, hold
Eternal .anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
c. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. II.
L. 894.
Lo: thy dread empire, Chaos, is restored ;
Light dies before thy uncreating word :
Thy hand, great Anarch ! lets the curtain fall;
And universal darkness buries all.
d. PopE—Dunciad. Bk. IV. L. &49.
Then rose the seed of Chaos, and of Night, To blot out order and extinguish light. «. Pope— The Dunciad. Bk. IV. L. 13.
For he being dead, with him is beauty slain, And, beauty dead, black chaos comes again. /. Venus and Adorut. L. 1,019.
Nay, had I power, I should
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,
Uproar the universal peace, confound
All unity on earth.
g. Macbeth. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 97.
CHARACTER.
Young men soon give, and soon forget affronts ;
Old age is slow in both.
h. Addison—Oato. Act II. Sc. 5.
No great genius was ever without some mixture of madness, nor can anything grand or superior to the voice of common mortals be spoken except by the agitated soul.
t. Aristotle.
Both man and womankind belie their nature
When they are not kind.
j. Bailey—Festus. Sc. Home.
Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in Hi it h ; invincible in arms.
k. Beattie—JVw: Minstrel. Bk. I. St. 11.
See! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.
1. Bernard E. Bee—'Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). July 21, 1861.
Many men are mere warehouses full of merchandise—the head, the heart, are stuffed with goods. * * * There are apartments in their souls which were once tenanted by taste, and love, and joy, and worship, but they are all deserted now, and the rooms are filled with earthy and material things. m. Henry Ward Beecheb— Life
Thought*.
Many men build as cathedrals were built, the part nearest the ground finished ; but that part which soars toward heaven, the turrets and the spires, forever incomplete.
n. Henry Ward Beecheh—Life
Thoughts.
No, when the fight begins within himself,
A man's worth something.
0. Robert Browning—Men and Women.
Bishop Blougram's Apology,
Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices; of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy. p. De La Brdyere—The Characters or
Manners of the Present Age.
Vol. II. Ch. XI.
All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities. q. Burke—Letters. Letter I. On a
Regicide Peace.
He was not merely a chip of the old Block, but the old Block itself. r. Burke— About Wm. Pitt—WraxalFs
Memoin. Vol. II. P. 342.
Hannibal, as he had mighty virtues, so had he many vices; * he had two distinct persons in him.
1. Burton—Anatomy of Melancholy.
Democritus to the Reader.
Heroic, stoic Cato, the sententious, Who lent his lady to his friend Hortensius. t. Byron—Don Juan. Canto VI. St. 7.
So well she acted all and every part
By turns—with that vivacious versatility, Which many people take for want of heart.
They err—'tis merely what is call'd mobility, A thing of temperament and not of art, Though seeming so, from its supposed fa--
cility; And false—though true; for surely they're
sincerest
Who are strongly acted on by what is nearest. u. Byron—Don Juan. Canto XVI.
St. 97.
78
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
With more capacity for love than earth Bestows on most of mortal mould and birth. His early dreams of good out-stripp'd the
truth,
And troubled manhood follow'd baffled youth, a. Byron—Lara. Canto I. St. 18.
Genteel in personage.
Conduct, and equipage;
Noble by heritage.
Generous and free.
6. Henry Carey—The Contrivances.
Act I. Sc. 2. L. 22.
Clever men are good, but they are not the best.
c. Carlyle—Goethe. Edinburgh
Review, 1828.
It can be said of him. When he departed he took a Man's life with him. No sounder piece of British manhood was put together in that eighteenth century of Time.
d. Carlyle—Sir Walter Scott. London
and Westminster Review. 1838.
It is in general more profitable to reckon up our defects than to boast of our attainments.
e. Carlyle—Essays. Signs of the Times.
We are firm believers in the maxim that, for all right judgment of any man or thing, it is useful, nay, essential, to see his good qualities before pronouncing on his bad.
/. Carlyle—Essays. Goethe.
Every one is the son of his own works. g. Cervantes—Don Quixote. Pt. I.
Bk. IV. Ch. XX.
I can look sharp as well as another, and let me alone to keep the cobwebs out of my eyes. h. Cervantes—Don Quixote. Pt. II.
Ch. XXXIII.
Thou art a cat, and rat, and a coward to boot, i. Cervantes—Don (Quixote. Pt. I.
Bk. III. Ch. VIII.
He was a verray perfight gentil knight. j. Chaucer—Canterbury Talcs. Prologue.
L. 72.
The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an Earldom.
t. Earl Of Chesterfield—Character of Pulteney. 1763.
He (Hampden) had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute, any mischief.
1. En. Hyde Clarendon—History of the Rebellion. Vol. III. Bk. VII.
Ib numbers warmly pure, and sweetly strong. m. Collins—Ode to Simplicity.
There is the love of knowing without the love of learning; the beclouding here leads to extravagant conduct.
n. Confucius—Analects. Bk. XVII.
Ch. vin.
An honest man, close-button'd to the chin, Broadcloth without, and a warm heart within. o. Cowper—Epittle to Joseph Hill.
Elegant as simplicity, and warm
As ecstasy.
p. Cowper— Table Talk. Line 588.
He cannot drink five bottles, bilk the score,
Then kill a constable, and drink five more;
But he can draw a pattern, make a tart,
And has the ladies' etiquette by heart.
q. Cowper—Progress of Error. L. 191.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law. r. Cowper— Truth. Line 405.
The Frenchman, easy, debonair and brisk,
Give him his lass, his fiddle, and his frisk,
Is always happy, reign whoever may,
And laughs the sense of mis'ry far away,
jr. Cowper— Table Talk. L. 237.
Virtue and vice had boundaries in old time,
Not to be pass'd.
t. Cowper— The Task. Bk. III. L. 75.
0 could I flow like thee ! and make thy stream My great example, as it is my theme: Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet
not dull;
Strong without rage, without o'crflowing full, u. Sir John Denha.m—Cooper's Hill.
L. 189.
Did you ever hear of Captain Wattle? He was all for love and a little for the bottle. v. Chas. Dibdin—Captain Wattle and
Miss Rol.
He's tough, ma'am,—tough is J. B.; tough and de-vilish sly. u'. Dickens—Dombey and Son. Ch. VII.
A man so various, that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome;
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong,
Was everything by starts, and nothing long;
But in the course of one revolving moon.
Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.
x. Dryden—Absalom and Achitophel.
Pt. 1. L. 54T).
For every inch that is not fool, is rogue. y. Dryden—Absalom and Achitophel.
Pt. II. L. 463.
Her wit was more than man, her innocence a child. z. Dryden—Elegy on Mrs. Kittigrew.
L. 70.
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
78
Plain without pomp, and rich without a show. a. Dryden—The Flower and the Leaf.
L. 187.
So over violent, or over civil, That every man with him was God or Devil. 6. Dbyden—Absalom and Achitophel.
Pt. I. L. 557.
Thus all below is strength, and all above is grace, e. Drydkn—Epistle to Oonoreve. L. 19.
There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.
d. George Eliot—Daniel Deronda.
Bk. III. Ch. XXIV.
Character is higher than intellect. * * * A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think.
«. Emerson—The American Scholar.
No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character. /. Emerson—Essay. On Character.
A great character, founded on the living rock of principle, is, in fact, not a solitary phenomenon, to be at once perceived, limited, and described. It is a dispensation of Providence, designed to have not merely an immediate, but a continuous, progressive, and never-ending agency. It survives the man who possessed it; survives his age,—perhaps his country, his language.
g. Ed. Evebett—Speech. July 4, 1835.
The Youth of Washington.
Every one of us, whatever our speculative opinions, knows better than he practices, and recognizes a better law than he obeys.
h. Fbocdk—Short Studies on Great
Subjects. On Progress. Pt. II.
Human improvement is from within outwards.
i. Froudb—Short Studies on Great
Subjects. Divui Cxtar.
Oar thoughts and our conduct are our own. j. Frocde—Short Studies on Great
Subjects. Education.
Hearts of oak are our ships,
Gallant tars are our men.
t. Garrick—Hearts of Oat.
In every deed of mischief, he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.
I. Gibbon—Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire. Ch. XLVIII. A. D. 1180.
Sept. 24.
That man may last, but never lives,
Who much receives, but nothing gives;
Whom none can love, whom none can
thank,—
Creation's blot, creation's blank. m. Thomas Gibbons— When Jesus Dwelt.
A man not perfect, but of heart
So high, of such heroic rage. That even his hopes became a part
Of earth's eternal heritage.
n. R. W. Gilder—At the President's Grave.
Epitaph.
To be engaged in opposing wrong affords, under the conditions of our mental constitution, but a slender guarantee for being right.
o. Gladstone—Time and Place of Homer.
Introduction.
Here lies David Garrick—describe me, who
can, An abridgment of all that was pleasant in
man.
As an actor, confess'd without rival to shine;
As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.
p. Goldsmith—Retaliation. L. 93.
Our Garrick's a salad ; for in him we see
Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree.
q. Goldsmith—Retaliation. L. 11.
Though equal to all things, for all things
unfit;
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit. r. Goldsmith—Retaliation. L. 37.
Hands, that the rod of empire might have
swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
s. Gkay—Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
St. 12.
Rugged strength and radiant beauty—
These were one in Nature's plan;
Humble toil and heavenward duty—
These will form the perfect man.
t. Sabaii J. Hale—Iron. St. VI.
Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days! None knew thee but to love thee,
Nor named thee but to praise.
u. Fitz-greene Halleck—On the death of Joseph R. Drake.
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel. v. J. C. and A. W. Hare— Guesses at
Truth.
Anyone must be mainly ignorant or thoughtless, who is surprised at everything he sees; or wonderfully conceited who expects everything to conform to his standard of propriety.
w. Wm. Hazlitt—Lectures on the English Comic Writers. On Wit and Humour.
80
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like season'd timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
a. Hebbebt—The Church. Vertue.
'Tis the same with common natures ;
Use 'em kindly, they rebel:
But, be rough as Nutmeg-graters,
And the rogues obey you well.
6. Aabon Hill—Verses Written on a
Window, In a Journey to Scotland.
0 Douglas, O Douglas! Tendir and trewe.
c. Sib Richard Holland—The Buke of
Howlat. St. XXXI.
We must have a weak spot or two in a character before we can love it much. People that do not laugh or cry, or take more of anything than U good for them, or use anything but dictionary-words, are admirable subjects for biographies. But we don't care most for those flat pattern flowers that press best in the herbarium.
d. 0. W. Holmes—The Professor at the
Breakfast Table. Ch. III. Iris.
Whatever comes from the brain carries the hue of the place it came from, and whatever comes from the heart carries the heat and color of its birthplace.
e. 0. W. Holmes— The Professor at the
Breakfast Table. Ch. VI.
But he whose inborn worth his acts commend, Of gentle soul, to human race a friend. /. Homer— Odyssey. Bk. 19. L.383.
Pope's trans.
Gentle of speech, beneficent of mind.
g. Homer— Odyssey. Bk. IV. L. 917.
Pope's trans.
In death a hero, as in life a friend!
A. Homer—Iliad. Bk. 17. L. 758.
Pope's trans.
Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.
». Homes— Odyssey. Bk. IV. L. 872.
Pope's trans.
The love of moral beauty, and that retention of the spirit of youth, which is implied by the indulgence of a poetical taste, are evidences of good disposition in any man, and argue well for the largeness of his mind in other respects.
j. LllOH Hunt—Men, Women and Books.
Of Statesmen Who Have Written
Verses.
A Soul of power, a well of lofty Thought A chastened Hope that ever points to Heaven, t. John Hdnter—Sonnet. A Replication
of Rhymes.
He was worse than provincial—he was parochial.
/. Henby James, Jr.—Of Thareau. A
Critical Life of Hawthorne.
Where the vivacity of the intellect and the strength of the passions, exceed the development of the moral faculties, the character is likely to be embittered or corrupted by extremes, either of adversity or prosperity.
m. Mrs. Jameson—Studies. On the Female
Character.
A very unclubable man.
n. Sam'l Johnson—BoswelFs Life of
Johnson. 1764. Note.
If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.
o. Sam'l Johnson—BoswelFs Life of
Johnson. 1763,
Officious, innocent, sincere,
Of every friendless name the friend.
p. Sam'l Johnson—Verses on the Death
of Mr. Robert Level. St. 2.
The heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, or the hand to execute. q. Junius—City Address and the King's
Answer. Letter XXXVII.
He is truly great that is little in himself, and that maketh no account of any height of honors.
r. Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of
Christ. Bk. I. Ch. III.
When a man dies they who survive him ask what property he has left behind. The angel who bends over the dying man asks what good deeds he has sent before him.
s. The Koran.
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.
t. Gen. Henry Lee—Funeral Oration
on Washington.
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his fellow citizens. w. Resolution on Washington's Death.
Prepared by Richard Henry Lkk and
offered in the House of Representatives
by John Marshall.
They eat, and drink, and scheme, and plod,
They go to church on Sunday ; And many are afraid of God,—
And more of Mrs. Grttndy.
v. Frederick Locker—The Jester't Plea.
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But dotli suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
a. Tempest. Act. 1. Sc. 2. L. 396.
I am not so nice, To change true rules for old inventions.
b. Taming of the Shrew. Act III. Sc. 1.
L. 80.
Now, the melancholy god protect thee; and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal.
c. Twelfth Night. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 74.
That we would do, We should do when we would; for this
"would" changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;
And then this " should " is like a spendthrift
sigh,
That hurts by easing.
d. Hamlet. Act IV. Sc. 7. L. 119.
The love of wicked men converts to fear ; That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both To worthy danger and deserved death.
e. Richard II. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 65.
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him :
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do. /. Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 352.
This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange That even our loves should with our fortunes
change. g. Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 210.
When we were happy we had other names.
h. King John. Act V. Sc. 4. L. 7.
Life may change, but it may fly not;
Hope may vanish, but can die not;
Truth be veiled, but still it burneth ;
Love repulsed,—but it roturneth.
t. Shelley—Hellas. Semi-chorus.
Men must reap the things they sow,
Force from force must ever flow,
Or worse; but'tis a bitter woe
That love or reason cannot change.
j. Shelley—Lines Written among the
Euganr.au Hills. L. 232.
Nought may endure but Mutability. k. Shklley—Mutability.
This sad vicissitude of things.
1. Laurence Sterne—Sermons. XVI.
The Character of Shimel.
The life of any one can by no means be changed after deatli; an evil life can in no wise be converted into a good life, or an infernal into an angelic life: because every spirit, from head to foot, is of the character of his love, and, therefore, of his life; and to convert this life into its opposite, would be to destroy the spirit utterly.
m. Swedenbobq—Heaven and Hell. 527.
White rose in red rose-garden
Is not so white;
Snowdrops, that plead for pardon
And pine for fright
Because the hard East blows
Over their maiden vows,
Grow not as this face grows from pale to bright.
n. Swinburne—Before the Mirror.
Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward,
forward let us range. Let the great world spin forever down the
ringing grooves of change.
o. Tennyson—Locksley Hall. St. 91.
The stone that is rolling, can gather no moss.
Who often remorcth is suer of loss.
p. Tusser—Five Hundred Points of Good
Ihisbandry. Lessons. St. 46.
Life is arched with changing skies:
Rarely are they what they seem :
Children we of smiles and sighs—
Much we know, but more we dream.
q. William Winter—Light and Shadow.
" A jolly place," said he, " in times of old ! But something ails it now ; the spot is curst." r. Wordsworth—Hart-leap Well. Pt, II.
As high as we have mounted in delight
In our dejection do we sink as low.
*. Wordsworth—Resolution and
Independence. St. 4.
CHAOS.
Temple and tower went down, nor left n
site:—
Chaos of ruins!
t. Byron—Childe Harold. Canto IV.
St. 80.
The chaos of events.
«. Byron—The Prophecy of Dante.
Canto II. L. 6.
The world was void,
The populous and the powerful was a lump, Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless—
A lump of death—a chaos of hard clay. v. Byron—Darkness. L. 69.
/
CHAOS.
CHARACTER.
7T
Chaog, that reigns here In double night of darkness and of shades. a. Milton—Comus. L. 334.
Fate shall yield
To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife. 6. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. II.
L. 232.
Where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of nature, hold
Eternal .anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
c. Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. II.
L. 894.
Lo: thy dread empire, Chaos, is restored ;
Light dies before thy uncreating word :
Thy hand, great Anarch ! lets the curtain fall;
And universal darkness buries all.
d. PopE—Dunciad. Bk. IV. L. &49.
Then rose the seed of Chaos, and of Night, To blot out order and extinguish light. «. Pope— The Dunciad. Bk. IV. L. 13.
For he being dead, with him is beauty slain, And, beauty dead, black chaos comes again. /. Venus and Adorut. L. 1,019.
Nay, had I power, I should
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,
Uproar the universal peace, confound
All unity on earth.
g. Macbeth. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 97.
CHARACTER.
Young men soon give, and soon forget affronts ;
Old age is slow in both.
h. Addison—Oato. Act II. Sc. 5.
No great genius was ever without some mixture of madness, nor can anything grand or superior to the voice of common mortals be spoken except by the agitated soul.
t. Aristotle.
Both man and womankind belie their nature
When they are not kind.
j. Bailey—Festus. Sc. Home.
Zealous, yet modest; innocent, though free;
Patient of toil; serene amidst alarms;
Inflexible in Hi it h ; invincible in arms.
k. Beattie—JVw: Minstrel. Bk. I. St. 11.
See! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.
1. Bernard E. Bee—'Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). July 21, 1861.
Many men are mere warehouses full of merchandise—the head, the heart, are stuffed with goods. * * * There are apartments in their souls which were once tenanted by taste, and love, and joy, and worship, but they are all deserted now, and the rooms are filled with earthy and material things. m. Henry Ward Beecheb— Life
Thought*.
Many men build as cathedrals were built, the part nearest the ground finished ; but that part which soars toward heaven, the turrets and the spires, forever incomplete.
n. Henry Ward Beecheh—Life
Thoughts.
No, when the fight begins within himself,
A man's worth something.
0. Robert Browning—Men and Women.
Bishop Blougram's Apology,
Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices; of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy. p. De La Brdyere—The Characters or
Manners of the Present Age.
Vol. II. Ch. XI.
All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities. q. Burke—Letters. Letter I. On a
Regicide Peace.
He was not merely a chip of the old Block, but the old Block itself. r. Burke— About Wm. Pitt—WraxalFs
Memoin. Vol. II. P. 342.
Hannibal, as he had mighty virtues, so had he many vices; * he had two distinct persons in him.
1. Burton—Anatomy of Melancholy.
Democritus to the Reader.
Heroic, stoic Cato, the sententious, Who lent his lady to his friend Hortensius. t. Byron—Don Juan. Canto VI. St. 7.
So well she acted all and every part
By turns—with that vivacious versatility, Which many people take for want of heart.
They err—'tis merely what is call'd mobility, A thing of temperament and not of art, Though seeming so, from its supposed fa--
cility; And false—though true; for surely they're
sincerest
Who are strongly acted on by what is nearest. u. Byron—Don Juan. Canto XVI.
St. 97.
78
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
With more capacity for love than earth Bestows on most of mortal mould and birth. His early dreams of good out-stripp'd the
truth,
And troubled manhood follow'd baffled youth, a. Byron—Lara. Canto I. St. 18.
Genteel in personage.
Conduct, and equipage;
Noble by heritage.
Generous and free.
6. Henry Carey—The Contrivances.
Act I. Sc. 2. L. 22.
Clever men are good, but they are not the best.
c. Carlyle—Goethe. Edinburgh
Review, 1828.
It can be said of him. When he departed he took a Man's life with him. No sounder piece of British manhood was put together in that eighteenth century of Time.
d. Carlyle—Sir Walter Scott. London
and Westminster Review. 1838.
It is in general more profitable to reckon up our defects than to boast of our attainments.
e. Carlyle—Essays. Signs of the Times.
We are firm believers in the maxim that, for all right judgment of any man or thing, it is useful, nay, essential, to see his good qualities before pronouncing on his bad.
/. Carlyle—Essays. Goethe.
Every one is the son of his own works. g. Cervantes—Don Quixote. Pt. I.
Bk. IV. Ch. XX.
I can look sharp as well as another, and let me alone to keep the cobwebs out of my eyes. h. Cervantes—Don Quixote. Pt. II.
Ch. XXXIII.
Thou art a cat, and rat, and a coward to boot, i. Cervantes—Don (Quixote. Pt. I.
Bk. III. Ch. VIII.
He was a verray perfight gentil knight. j. Chaucer—Canterbury Talcs. Prologue.
L. 72.
The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an Earldom.
t. Earl Of Chesterfield—Character of Pulteney. 1763.
He (Hampden) had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute, any mischief.
1. En. Hyde Clarendon—History of the Rebellion. Vol. III. Bk. VII.
Ib numbers warmly pure, and sweetly strong. m. Collins—Ode to Simplicity.
There is the love of knowing without the love of learning; the beclouding here leads to extravagant conduct.
n. Confucius—Analects. Bk. XVII.
Ch. vin.
An honest man, close-button'd to the chin, Broadcloth without, and a warm heart within. o. Cowper—Epittle to Joseph Hill.
Elegant as simplicity, and warm
As ecstasy.
p. Cowper— Table Talk. Line 588.
He cannot drink five bottles, bilk the score,
Then kill a constable, and drink five more;
But he can draw a pattern, make a tart,
And has the ladies' etiquette by heart.
q. Cowper—Progress of Error. L. 191.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law. r. Cowper— Truth. Line 405.
The Frenchman, easy, debonair and brisk,
Give him his lass, his fiddle, and his frisk,
Is always happy, reign whoever may,
And laughs the sense of mis'ry far away,
jr. Cowper— Table Talk. L. 237.
Virtue and vice had boundaries in old time,
Not to be pass'd.
t. Cowper— The Task. Bk. III. L. 75.
0 could I flow like thee ! and make thy stream My great example, as it is my theme: Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet
not dull;
Strong without rage, without o'crflowing full, u. Sir John Denha.m—Cooper's Hill.
L. 189.
Did you ever hear of Captain Wattle? He was all for love and a little for the bottle. v. Chas. Dibdin—Captain Wattle and
Miss Rol.
He's tough, ma'am,—tough is J. B.; tough and de-vilish sly. u'. Dickens—Dombey and Son. Ch. VII.
A man so various, that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome;
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong,
Was everything by starts, and nothing long;
But in the course of one revolving moon.
Was chymist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.
x. Dryden—Absalom and Achitophel.
Pt. 1. L. 54T).
For every inch that is not fool, is rogue. y. Dryden—Absalom and Achitophel.
Pt. II. L. 463.
Her wit was more than man, her innocence a child. z. Dryden—Elegy on Mrs. Kittigrew.
L. 70.
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
78
Plain without pomp, and rich without a show. a. Dryden—The Flower and the Leaf.
L. 187.
So over violent, or over civil, That every man with him was God or Devil. 6. Dbyden—Absalom and Achitophel.
Pt. I. L. 557.
Thus all below is strength, and all above is grace, e. Drydkn—Epistle to Oonoreve. L. 19.
There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.
d. George Eliot—Daniel Deronda.
Bk. III. Ch. XXIV.
Character is higher than intellect. * * * A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think.
«. Emerson—The American Scholar.
No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character. /. Emerson—Essay. On Character.
A great character, founded on the living rock of principle, is, in fact, not a solitary phenomenon, to be at once perceived, limited, and described. It is a dispensation of Providence, designed to have not merely an immediate, but a continuous, progressive, and never-ending agency. It survives the man who possessed it; survives his age,—perhaps his country, his language.
g. Ed. Evebett—Speech. July 4, 1835.
The Youth of Washington.
Every one of us, whatever our speculative opinions, knows better than he practices, and recognizes a better law than he obeys.
h. Fbocdk—Short Studies on Great
Subjects. On Progress. Pt. II.
Human improvement is from within outwards.
i. Froudb—Short Studies on Great
Subjects. Divui Cxtar.
Oar thoughts and our conduct are our own. j. Frocde—Short Studies on Great
Subjects. Education.
Hearts of oak are our ships,
Gallant tars are our men.
t. Garrick—Hearts of Oat.
In every deed of mischief, he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.
I. Gibbon—Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire. Ch. XLVIII. A. D. 1180.
Sept. 24.
That man may last, but never lives,
Who much receives, but nothing gives;
Whom none can love, whom none can
thank,—
Creation's blot, creation's blank. m. Thomas Gibbons— When Jesus Dwelt.
A man not perfect, but of heart
So high, of such heroic rage. That even his hopes became a part
Of earth's eternal heritage.
n. R. W. Gilder—At the President's Grave.
Epitaph.
To be engaged in opposing wrong affords, under the conditions of our mental constitution, but a slender guarantee for being right.
o. Gladstone—Time and Place of Homer.
Introduction.
Here lies David Garrick—describe me, who
can, An abridgment of all that was pleasant in
man.
As an actor, confess'd without rival to shine;
As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.
p. Goldsmith—Retaliation. L. 93.
Our Garrick's a salad ; for in him we see
Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree.
q. Goldsmith—Retaliation. L. 11.
Though equal to all things, for all things
unfit;
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit. r. Goldsmith—Retaliation. L. 37.
Hands, that the rod of empire might have
swayed, Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.
s. Gkay—Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
St. 12.
Rugged strength and radiant beauty—
These were one in Nature's plan;
Humble toil and heavenward duty—
These will form the perfect man.
t. Sabaii J. Hale—Iron. St. VI.
Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days! None knew thee but to love thee,
Nor named thee but to praise.
u. Fitz-greene Halleck—On the death of Joseph R. Drake.
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel. v. J. C. and A. W. Hare— Guesses at
Truth.
Anyone must be mainly ignorant or thoughtless, who is surprised at everything he sees; or wonderfully conceited who expects everything to conform to his standard of propriety.
w. Wm. Hazlitt—Lectures on the English Comic Writers. On Wit and Humour.
80
CHARACTER.
CHARACTER.
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like season'd timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
a. Hebbebt—The Church. Vertue.
'Tis the same with common natures ;
Use 'em kindly, they rebel:
But, be rough as Nutmeg-graters,
And the rogues obey you well.
6. Aabon Hill—Verses Written on a
Window, In a Journey to Scotland.
0 Douglas, O Douglas! Tendir and trewe.
c. Sib Richard Holland—The Buke of
Howlat. St. XXXI.
We must have a weak spot or two in a character before we can love it much. People that do not laugh or cry, or take more of anything than U good for them, or use anything but dictionary-words, are admirable subjects for biographies. But we don't care most for those flat pattern flowers that press best in the herbarium.
d. 0. W. Holmes—The Professor at the
Breakfast Table. Ch. III. Iris.
Whatever comes from the brain carries the hue of the place it came from, and whatever comes from the heart carries the heat and color of its birthplace.
e. 0. W. Holmes— The Professor at the
Breakfast Table. Ch. VI.
But he whose inborn worth his acts commend, Of gentle soul, to human race a friend. /. Homer— Odyssey. Bk. 19. L.383.
Pope's trans.
Gentle of speech, beneficent of mind.
g. Homer— Odyssey. Bk. IV. L. 917.
Pope's trans.
In death a hero, as in life a friend!
A. Homer—Iliad. Bk. 17. L. 758.
Pope's trans.
Wise to resolve, and patient to perform.
». Homes— Odyssey. Bk. IV. L. 872.
Pope's trans.
The love of moral beauty, and that retention of the spirit of youth, which is implied by the indulgence of a poetical taste, are evidences of good disposition in any man, and argue well for the largeness of his mind in other respects.
j. LllOH Hunt—Men, Women and Books.
Of Statesmen Who Have Written
Verses.
A Soul of power, a well of lofty Thought A chastened Hope that ever points to Heaven, t. John Hdnter—Sonnet. A Replication
of Rhymes.
He was worse than provincial—he was parochial.
/. Henby James, Jr.—Of Thareau. A
Critical Life of Hawthorne.
Where the vivacity of the intellect and the strength of the passions, exceed the development of the moral faculties, the character is likely to be embittered or corrupted by extremes, either of adversity or prosperity.
m. Mrs. Jameson—Studies. On the Female
Character.
A very unclubable man.
n. Sam'l Johnson—BoswelFs Life of
Johnson. 1764. Note.
If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.
o. Sam'l Johnson—BoswelFs Life of
Johnson. 1763,
Officious, innocent, sincere,
Of every friendless name the friend.
p. Sam'l Johnson—Verses on the Death
of Mr. Robert Level. St. 2.
The heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, or the hand to execute. q. Junius—City Address and the King's
Answer. Letter XXXVII.
He is truly great that is little in himself, and that maketh no account of any height of honors.
r. Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of
Christ. Bk. I. Ch. III.
When a man dies they who survive him ask what property he has left behind. The angel who bends over the dying man asks what good deeds he has sent before him.
s. The Koran.
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.
t. Gen. Henry Lee—Funeral Oration
on Washington.
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his fellow citizens. w. Resolution on Washington's Death.
Prepared by Richard Henry Lkk and
offered in the House of Representatives
by John Marshall.
They eat, and drink, and scheme, and plod,
They go to church on Sunday ; And many are afraid of God,—
And more of Mrs. Grttndy.
v. Frederick Locker—The Jester't Plea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)