Top 9 Quotes by Henry Mackenzie

Mankind in the gross is a gaping monster, that loves to be deceived and has seldom been disappointed.

Mankind in the gross is a gaping monster, that loves to be deceived and has seldom been disappointed.

Monsters, Mankind, Deceived

Henry Mackenzie (1854). “The Miscellaneous Works of Henry Mackenzie ...”, p.41

What signifies sadness, sir; a man grows lean on it.

Sadness, Men, Sorrow

Henry Mackenzie (1815). “The Works of Henry Mackenzie, Esq. ...: The man of feeling, and miscellaneous pieces.-v.II. The man of the world.-v.III. Julia de Roubigné”, p.20

People do not care to give alms without some security for their money; and a wooden leg or a withered arm is a sort of draft upon heaven for those who choose to have their money placed to account there.

Henry Mackenzie

People, Giving, Heaven

Henry Mackenzie (1820). “The man of feeling: and Julia de Roubigné, a tale”, p.18

Pedantry, in the common acceptation of the word, means an absurd ostentation of learning, and stiffness of phraseology, proceeding from a misguided knowledge of books and a total ignorance of men.

Henry Mackenzie

Book, Ignorance, Mean

Fame is a revenue payable only to our ghosts; and to deny ourselves all present satisfaction, or to expose ourselves to so much hazard for this, were as great madness as to starve ourselves, or fight desperately for food, to be laid on our tombs after our death.

Henry Mackenzie

Fighting, Hazards, Satisfaction

Indeed, I have observed one ingredient, somewhat necessary in a man’s composition towards happiness, which people of feeling would do well to acquire; a certain respect for the follies of mankind: for there are so many fools whom the opinion of the world entitles to regard, whom accident has placed in heights of which they are unworthy, that he who cannot restrain his contempt or indignation at the sight will be too often quarrelling with the disposal of things to relish that share which is allotted to himself.

Henry Mackenzie

Men, Sight, People

Henry Mackenzie (1837). “The Man of Feeling: The Man of the World ...: The Stories of La Roche, Louisa Venoni, and Nancy Collins: Being the Whole of the Popular Works of the Late Henry Mackenzie, Esq”, p.5

It is only from the belief of the goodness and wisdom of a supreme being, that our calamities can be borne in the manner which becomes a man.

Henry Mackenzie

Men, Belief, He Man

Henry Mackenzie (1815). “The Works of Henry Mackenzie, Esq. ...: The man of feeling, and miscellaneous pieces.-v.II. The man of the world.-v.III. Julia de Roubigné”, p.192

There are two distinct sorts of what we call bashfulness; this, the awkwardness of a booby, which a few steps into the world will convert into the pertness of a coxcomb; that, a consciousness, which the most delicate feelings produce, and the most extensive knowledge cannot always remove.

Henry Mackenzie

Two, Feelings, World

Henry Mackenzie (1836). “The Miscellaneous Works of Henry Mackenzie”, p.22