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
exercise world gunpowder
Exercise is the worst thing in the world and as bad an invention as gunpowder.
bills draw english-author full men seldom sent
Men are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.
compensate given humor humorous imagination man
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he isn't. A sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.
according act best bless common given goodness happiness philosophy submit wisdom
To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know; and the best philosophy is to do one's duties, take the world as it comes, submit respectfully to one's lot; bless the goodness that has given us so much happiness with it,
comedy english-author life tragedy
Life is a tragedy for those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.
event prophets prove sure wisest
Prognostics do not always prove prophecies, - at least the wisest prophets make sure of the event first
error last precedes science
In all science error precedes the truth, and it is better it should go first than last
beautiful regret wrinkles
Defaced ruins of architecture and statuary, like the wrinkles of decrepitude of a once beautiful woman, only make one regret that one did not see them when they were enchanting.
scotch void humour
The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it.
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.
mystery blockheads
Mystery is the wisdom of blockheads.
pain fear loneliness
We are largely the playthings of our fears. To one, fear of the dark; to another, of physical pain; to a third, of public ridicule; to a fourth, of poverty; to a fifth, of loneliness ... for all of us, our particular creature waits in ambush.
vices virtue lost
Virtue knows to a farthing what it has lost by not having been vice.
new-york discovery boston
The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveler from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.