Charles Caleb Colton
Charles Caleb Colton
Charles Caleb Coltonwas an English cleric, writer and collector, well known for his eccentricities...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
evil growth rapids
No propagation or multiplication is more rapid that that of evil, unless it be checked; no growth more certain.
equality long-ago tomorrow
A leveller has long ago been set down as a ridiculous and chimerical being, who, if he could finish his work to-day, would have to begin it again tomorrow.
taken ignorance men
It is a curious paradox that precisely in proportion to our own intellectual weakness will be our credulity, to those mysterious powers assumed by others; and in those regions of darkness and ignorance where man cannot effect even those things that are within the power of man, there we shall ever find that a blind belief in feats that are far beyond those powers has taken the deepest root in the minds of the deceived, and produced the richest harvest to the knavery of the deceiver.
writing blood may
It may be observed of good writing, as of good blood, that it is much easier to say what it is composed of than to compose it.
men feelings genius
To be a mere verbal critic is what no man of genius would be if he could; but to be a critic of true taste and feeling is what no man without genius could be if he would.
fashion party past
Custom is the law of one description of fools, and fashion of another; but the two parties often clash--for precedent is the legislator of the first, and novelty of the last. Custom, therefore, looks to things that are past, and fashion to things that are present.
kings dinner might
The cynic who twitted Aristippus by observing that the philosopher who could dine on herbs might despise the company of a king, was well replied to by Aristippus, when he remarked that the philosopher who could enjoy the company or a king might also despise a dinner of herbs.
memories book reader
Many books owe their success to the good memories of their authors and the bad memories of their readers.
light heaven growth
Posthumous fame is a plant of tardy growth, for our body must be the seed of it; or we may liken it to a torch, which nothing but the last spark of life can light up; or we may compare it to the trumpet of the archangel, for it is blown over the dead; but unlike that awful blast, it is of earth, not of heaven, and can neither rouse nor raise us.
sex powerful revenge
Some philosophers would give a sex to revenge, and appropriate it almost exclusively to the female mind. But, like most other vices, it is of both genders; yet, because wounded vanity and slighted love are the two most powerful excitements to revenge, it has been thought, perhaps, to rage with more violence in the female heart.
strong two mind
No two things differ more than hurry and despatch. Hurry is the mark of a weak mind; despatch of a strong one.
our-actions action immortality
Our actions must clothe us with an immortality loathsome or glorious.
beauty appreciate substance
That is true beauty which has not only a substance, but a spirit; a beauty that we must intimately know, justly to appreciate.
may cups bliss
We may anticipate bliss, but who ever drank of that enchanted cup unalloved?