Quotes by William Hazlitt

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
 - William Hazlitt

Prejudice is the child of ignorance.

If I have not read a book before, it is, for all intents and purposes, new to me whether it was printed yesterday or three hundred years ago.

The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are the more leisure we have.

Words are the only things that last forever.

If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.

Violence ever defeats its own ends. Where you cannot drive you can always persuade. A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.

Great thoughts reduced to practice become great acts.

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin - more even than death. . . . Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

The most fluent talkers or most plausible reasoners are not always the justest thinkers.