Lord Shaftesbury
Lord Shaftesbury
Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his father as second Baronet of Rockbourne in 1631 and been created Baron Ashley, of Wimborne St Giles in the County of Dorset, in 1661, and he was made Baron Cooper, of Paulett in the County of Somerset, at the...
money nature perfect
In nature, all is managed for the best with perfect frugality and just reserve, profuse to none, but bountiful to all; never employing on one thing more than enough, but with exact economy retrenching the superfluous, and adding force to what is principal in everything.
sake would-be virtue
I would be virtuous for my own sake, though nobody were to know it; as I would be clean for my own sake, though nobody were to see me.
world encounters virtue
As many as are the difficulties which Virtue has to encounter in this world, her force is yet superior.
eye light confusion
It is the same with understanding as with eyes; to a certain size and make, just so much light is necessary, and no more. Whatever is beyond brings darkness and confusion.
beautiful truth faces
The face of Truth is not less fair and beautiful for all the counterfeit visors which have been put upon her.
judging veins ears
We may have an excellent ear for music, without being able to perform in any kind; we may judge well of poetry, without being poets, or possessing the least of a poetic vein; but we can have no tolerable notion of goodness without being tolerably good.
thinking ignorant fool
The greatest of fools is he who imposes on himself, and in his greatest concern thinks certainly he knows that which he has least studied, and of which he is most profoundly ignorant.
bullying men calm
True courage is cool and calm. The bravest of men have the least of a brutal, bullying insolence, and in the very time of danger are found the most serene and free.
self world thinker
It is the hardest thing in the world to be a good thinker without being a good self examiner.
heart neutrality
The heart is never neutral.
humor sage tests
It is the saying of an ancient sage that humor was the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor.
ridiculous ridicule
Nothing is more ridiculous than ridicule.
beauty faces architecture
True features make the beauty of a face, and true proportions the beauty of architecture.
happiness men easy
When men are easy in themselves, they let others remain so.