Quotes by William Thackeray

" Never lose a chance of saying a kind word."

The play is done-the curtain drops,
Slow falling to he prompter's bell;
A moment yet he actor stops,
And looks around, to say farewell.
It is an irksome word and task;
And when he's laughed and said his say,
He shows, as he removes the mask,
A face that's anything but gay.

Sow a thought,
and reap an action.
Sow an action,
and reap a habit.
Sow a habit,
and reap character.
Sow character,
and reap destiny.

Might I give counsel to any man, I would say to him, try to frequent the company of your betters. In books and in life, that is the most wholesome society; learn to admire rightly; the great pleasure of life is that. Note what great men admire.

How hard it is to make an Englishman acknowledge that he is happy! Pendennis. Book ii. Chap. xxxi.

Ho, pretty page, with the dimpled chin That never has known the barber's shear, All your wish is woman to win, This is the way that boys begin. Wait till you come to Forty Year.

Never marry with the expectation of changing a person.

Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.

Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world always yields; or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and it will succumb.

Christmas is here: Winds whistle shrill, Icy and chill. Little care we; Little we fear Weather without, Sheltered about The Mahogany Tree.