Maria Edgeworth Quotes - Page 3

Obtain power, then, by all means; power is the law of man; make it yours.

We cannot judge either of the feelings or of the characters of men with perfect accuracy from their actions or their appearance in public; it is from their careless conversations, their half-finished sentences, that we may hope with the greatest probability of success to discover their real characters.

Nor elves, nor fays, nor magic charm, Have pow'r, or will, to work us harm; For those who dare the truth to tell, Fays, elves, and fairies, wish them well.

The labor of thinking was so great to me, that having once come to a conclusion upon any subject, I would rather persist in it, right or wrong, than be at the trouble of going over the process again to revise and rectify my judgment.

Fortune's wheel never stands still the highest point is therefore the most perilous.

According to the Asiatics, Cupid's bow is strung with bees which are apt to sting, sometimes fatally, those who meddle with it.

I ... practiced all the arts of apology, evasion, and invisibility, to which procrastinators must sooner or later be reduced.

First loves are not necessarily more foolish than others; but the chances are certainly against them. Proximity of time or place, a variety of accidental circumstances more than the essential merits of the object, often produce what is called first love.

Habit is, to weak minds, a species of moral predestination, from which they have no power to escape.

Come when you're called; And do as you're bid; Shut the door after you; And you'll never be chid.

The unaffected language of real feeling and benevolence is easily understood, and is never ridiculous.

Beauty is a great gift of heaven; not for the purpose of female vanity, but a great gift for one who loves, and wishes to be beloved.

when driven to the necessity of explaining, I found that I did not myself understand what I meant.

how impossible it is not to laugh in some company, or to laugh in others.

The bore is good for promoting sleep; but though he causeth sleep in others, it is uncertain whether he ever sleeps himself; as few can keep awake in his company long enough to see. It is supposed that when he sleeps it is with his mouth open.

I find the love of garden grows upon me as I grow older more and more. Shrubs and flowers and such small gay things, that bloom and please and fade and wither and are gone and we care not for them, are refreshing interests, in life, and if we cannot say never fading pleasures, we may say unreproved pleasures and never grieving losses.

Man is to be held only by the slightest chains; with the idea that he can break them at pleasure, he submits to them in sport.

There is no moment like the present. The man who will not execute his resolutions when they are fresh upon him can have no hope from them afterwards: they will be dissipated, lost, and perish in the hurry and scurry of the world, or sunk in the slough of indolence.

Love occupies a vast space in a woman's thoughts, but fills a small portion in a man's life.

A love-match was the only thing for happiness, where the parties could any way afford it.

The bore is usually considered a harmless creature, or of that class of irrationa bipeds who hurt only themselves.

you've always been living on prospects; for my part, I'd rather have a mole-hill in possession than a mountain in prospect.

The Irish sometimes make and keep a vow against whiskey; these vows are usually limited to a short time.

Illness was a sort of occupation to me, and I was always sorry to get well.

every man who takes a part in politics, especially in times when parties run high, must expect to be abused; they must bear it; and their friends must learn to bear it for them.