Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford— also known as Horace Walpole — was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth24 September 1717
morning sleep night
The sure way of judging whether our first thoughts are judicious, is to sleep on them. If they appear of the same force the next morning as they did over night, and if good nature ratifies what good sense approves, we may be pretty sure we are in the right.
father heart boys
Of Ickworth's boys, their father's joys, There is but one a bad one; The tenth is he, the parson's fee, And indeed he is a sad one. No love of fame, no sense of shame, And a bad heart, let me tell ye: Without, all brass; within, all ass, And the puppy's name is Felly.
crowns may retrospect
The prosecution of [Warren] Hastings, though he should escape at last, must have good effect. It will alarm the servants of the Company in India, that they may not always plunder with impunity, but that there may be a retrospect; and it will show them that even bribes of diamonds to the Crown may not secure them from prosecution.
kings years curiosity
When the Prince of Piedmont [later Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia] was seven years old, his preceptor instructing him in mythology told him all the vices were enclosed in Pandora's box. "What! all!" said the Prince. "Yes, all." "No," said the Prince; "curiosity must have been without.
genius taste wanted
One of the greatest geniuses that ever existed, Shakespeare, undoubtedly wanted taste.
wise firsts events
The wisest prophets make sure of the event first.
dots ink misery
It was said of old Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, that she never puts dots over her I s, to save ink.
methodists bigs subjects
The Methodists love your big sinners, as proper subjects to work upon.
vices virtue lost
Virtue knows to a farthing what it has lost by not having been vice.
degenerates ancestor posterity
Posterity always degenerates till it becomes our ancestors.
fun angel animal
Oh, we are ridiculous animals; and if the angels have any fun in them, how we must divert them!
rap axes crooks
I sit with my toes in a brook, And if any one axes forwhy? I hits them a rap with my crook, For 'tis sentiment does it, says I.
scotch void humour
The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it.
governors supreme
Our supreme governors, the mob.