Horace Walpole Quotes & Sayings

It is difficult to divest one's self of vanity; because impossible to divest one's self of self-love. — Horace Walpole

Two large prominent eyes that rolled about to no purpose (for he was utterly short-sighted) a wide mouth, thick lips and inflated visage, gave him the air of a blind trumpeter. A deep untuneable voice which, instead of modulating, he enforced with unnecsessary pomp, a total neglect of his person, and ignorance of every civil attention, disgusted all who judge by appearance. — Horace Walpole

I never found even in my juvenile hours that it was necessary to go a thousand miles in search of themes for moralizing. — Horace Walpole

Nothing has shown more fully the prodigious ignorance of human ideas and their littleness, than the discovery of [Sir William] Herschell, that what used to be called the Milky Way is a portion of perhaps an infinite multitude of worlds! — Horace Walpole

I have known several persons of great fame for wisdom in public affairs and councils governed by foolish servants. I have known great ministers, distinguished for wit and learning, who preferred none but dunces. I have known men of valor cowards to their wives. I have known men of cunning perpetually cheated. I knew three ministers who would exactly compute and settle the accounts of a kingdom, wholly ignorant of their own economy. — Horace Walpole

I can forgive injuries, but never benefits. — Horace Walpole

Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent. — Horace Walpole

Serendipity ... You will understand it better by the derivation than by the definition. I once read a silly fairy tale, called 'The Three Princes of Serendip': as their Highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of. — Horace Walpole

He was persuaded he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could for ever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul. — Horace Walpole

My veracity is dearer to me than my life," said the peasant; "nor would I purchase the one by forfeiting the other. — Horace Walpole

The passions seldom give good advice but to the interested and mercenary. Resentment generally suggests bad measures. Second thoughts and good nature will rarely, very rarely, approve the first hints of anger. — Horace Walpole

The Methodists love your big sinners, as proper subjects to work upon. — Horace Walpole

Lawyers and rogues are vermin not easily rooted out of a rich soil. — Horace Walpole

My soul abhors a falsehood — Horace Walpole

Fashion is fortunately no law but to its devotees. — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

I firmly believe, notwithstanding all our complaints, that almost every person upon earth tastes upon the totality more happiness than misery. — Horace Walpole

One's mind suffers only when one is young and while one is ignorant of the world. When one has lived for some time, one learns that the young think too little and the old too much, and one grows careless about both. — Horace Walpole

I know that I have had friends who would never have vexed or betrayed me, if they had walked on all fours. — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think. — Horace Walpole

One of the greatest geniuses that ever existed,
Shakespeare, undoubtedly wanted taste. — Horace Walpole

In the drawing room [of the Queen's palace] hung a Venus and Cupid by Michaelangelo, in which, instead of a bit of drapery, the painter has placed Cupid's foot between Venus's thighs. Queen Caroline asked General Guise, an old connoisseur, if it was not a very fine piece? He replied Madam, the painter was a fool, for he has placed the foot where the hand should be. — Horace Walpole

A tragedy can never suffer by delay: a comedy may, because the allusions or the manners represented in it maybe temporary. — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

It was said of old Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, that she never puts dots over her I s, to save ink. — Horace Walpole

I come," replied he, "to thee, Manfred, usurper of the principality of Otranto, from the renowned and invincible Knight, the Knight of the Gigantic Sabre: in the name of his Lord, Frederic, Marquis of Vicenza, he demands the Lady Isabella, daughter of that Prince, whom thou hast basely and traitorously got into thy power, by bribing her false guardians during his absence; and he requires thee to resign the principality of Otranto, which thou hast usurped from the said Lord Frederic, the nearest of blood to the last rightful Lord, Alfonso the Good. If thou dost not instantly comply with these just demands, he defies thee to single combat to the last extremity. — Horace Walpole

Oh that I were seated as high as my ambition, I'd place my naked foot on the necks of monarchs. — Horace Walpole

All very ancient history, except that of the illuminated Jews, is a perfect fable. It was written by priests, or collected from their reports; and calculated solely to raise lofty ideas of the origin of each nation. Gods and demi-gods were the principal actors; and truth is seldom to be expected where the personages are supernatural. The Greek historians have no advantage over the Peruvian, but in the beauty of their language, or from that language being more familiar to us. Mango Capac, the son of the sun, is as authentic a founder of a royal race, as the progenitor of the Heraclidae. What truth indeed could be expected, when even the identity of person is uncertain? The actions of one were ascribed to many, and of many to one. It is not known whether there was a single Hercules or twenty. — Horace Walpole

History is a romance that is believed; romance, a history that is not believed. — Horace Walpole

The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel. — Horace Walpole

Nine-tenths of the people were created so you would want to be with the other tenth. — Horace Walpole

Alexander at the head of the world never tasted the true pleasure that boys of his own age have enjoyed at the head of a school. — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

I have known men of valor cowards to their wives. — Horace Walpole

Poetry is a beautiful way of spoiling prose, and the laborious art of exchanging plain sense for harmony. — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

Dr. Calder [a Unitarian minister] said of Dr. [Samuel] Johnson on the publications of Boswell and Mrs. Piozzi, that he was like Actaeon, torn to pieces by his own pack. — Horace Walpole

Plot, rules, nor even poetry, are not half so great beauties in tragedy or comedy as a just imitation of nature, of character, of the passions and their operations in diversified situations. — Horace Walpole

In science, mistakes always precede the truth. — Horace Walpole

I am persuaded that foolish writers and foolish readers are created for each other; and that fortune provides readers as she does mates for ugly women. — Horace Walpole

Fashion is always silly, for, before it can spread far, it must be calculated for silly people; as examples of sense, wit, or ingenuity could be imitated only by a few. — Horace Walpole

Our supreme governors, the mob. — Horace Walpole

I shun authors, and would never have been one myself, if it obliged me to keep such bad company. — Horace Walpole

[Corneille] was inspired by Roman authors and Roman spirit, Racine with delicacy by the polished court of Louis XIV. — Horace Walpole

At last some curious traveller from Lima will visit England, and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul's, like the editions of Baalbec and Palmyra. — Horace Walpole

Oh, we are ridiculous animals; and if the angels have any fun in them, how we must divert them! — Horace Walpole

Who has begun has half done. Have the courage to be wise. Begin! — Horace Walpole

Two clergymen disputing whether ordination would be valid without the imposition of both hands, the more formal one said, Do you think the Holy Dove could fly down with only one wing? — Horace Walpole

If a passion for freedom is not in vogue, patriots may sound the alarm till they are weary. The Act of Habeas Corpus, by which prisoners may insist on being brought to trial within a limited time, is the corner stone of our liberty. — Horace Walpole

I desired you once before," said Manfred angrily, "not to name that woman: from this hour she must be a stranger to you, as she must be to me. In short, Isabella, since I cannot give you my son, I offer you myself. — Horace Walpole

How well Shakespeare knew how to improve and exalt little circumstances, when he borrowed them from circumstantial or vulgar historians. — Horace Walpole

We must cultivate our garden.
Furia to God one day in seven allots;
The other six to scandal she devotes.
Satan, by false devotion never flammed,
Bets six to one, that Furia will be damned. — Horace Walpole

When Shakespeare copied chroniclers verbatim, it was because he knew they were good enough for his audiences. In a more polished age he who could so move our passions, could surely have performed the easier task of satisfying our taste. — Horace Walpole

The gentle maid, whose hapless tale,
these melancholy pages speak;
say, gracious lady, shall she fail
To draw the tear a down from thy cheek? — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

Posterity always degenerates till it becomes our ancestors. — Horace Walpole

Mystery is the wisdom of blockheads. — Horace Walpole

Historic justice is due to all characters. Who would not vindicate Henry the Eighth or Charles the Second, if found to be falsely traduced? Why then not Richard the Third? — Horace Walpole

Our [British] summers are often, though beautiful for verdure, so cold, that they are rather cold winters. — Horace Walpole

Life is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy for those who feel. — Horace Walpole

A careless song, with a little nonsense in it now and then, does not mis-become a monarch. — Horace Walpole

Ponder, your comedies are woeful chaff:
Write tragedies, when you would make us laugh. — Horace Walpole

Virtue knows to a farthing what it has lost by not having been vice. — Horace Walpole

A man of sense, though born without wit, often lives to have wit. His memory treasures up ideas and reflections; he compares themwith new occurrences, and strikes out new lights from the collision. The consequence is sometimes bons mots, and sometimes apothegms. — Horace Walpole

The way to ensure summer in England is to have it framed and glazed in a comfortable room. — Horace Walpole

We often repent of our first thoughts, and scarce ever of our second. — Horace Walpole

But alas! my Lord, what is blood! what is nobility! We are all reptiles, miserable, sinful creatures. It is piety alone that can distinguish us from the dust whence we sprung, and whither we must return. — Horace Walpole

Serendipitous discoveries are made by chance, found without looking for them but possible only through a sharp vision and sagacity, ready to see the unexpected and never indulgent with the apparently unexplainable. — Horace Walpole

It amazes me when I hear any person prefer blindness to deafness. Such a person must have a terrible dread of being alone. Blindness makes one totally dependent on others, and deprives us of every satisfaction that results from light. — Horace Walpole

A poet who makes use of a worse word instead of a better, because the former fits the rhyme or the measure, though it weakens the sense, is like a jeweller, who cuts a diamond into a brilliant, and diminishes the weight to make it shine more. — Horace Walpole

The contempt of money is no more a virtue than to wash one's hand is one; but one does not willingly shake hands with a man that never washes his. — Horace Walpole

The best sun we have is made of Newcastle coal, and I am determined never to reckon upon any other. — Horace Walpole

What is called chance is the instrument of Providence and the secret agent that counteracts what men call wisdom, and preserves order and regularity, and continuation in the whole, for ... I firmly believe, notwithstanding all our complaints, that almost every person upon earth tastes upon the totality more happiness than misery; and therefore if we could correct the world to our fancies, and with the best intentions imaginable, probably we should only produce more misery and confusion. — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

This life is but a pilgrimage. — Horace Walpole

When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles. — Horace Walpole

Letters to absence can a voice impart, And lend a tongue when distance gags the heart. — Horace Walpole

How posterity will laugh at us, one way or other! If half a dozen break their necks, and balloonism is exploded, we shall be called fools for having imagined it could be brought to use: if it should be turned to account, we shall be ridiculed for having doubted. — Horace Walpole

I fear no bad angel, and have offended no good one. — Horace Walpole

I look upon paradoxes as the impotent efforts of men who, not having capacity to draw attention and celebrity from good sense, fly to eccentricities to make themselves noted. — Horace Walpole

I do not admire politicians; but when they are excellent in their way, one cannot help allowing them their due. — Horace Walpole

I have sometimes seen women, who would have been sensible enough, if they would have been content not to be called women of sense
but by aiming at what they had not, they only proved absurd
for sense cannot be counterfeited. — Horace Walpole

The curse of modern times is, that almost everything does create controversy. — Horace Walpole

The whole [Scotch] nation hitherto has been void of wit and humour, and even incapable of relishing it. — Horace Walpole

Without grace no book can live, and with it the poorest may have its life prolonged. — Horace Walpole

An ancient prophecy ... pronounced, That the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it! — Horace Walpole

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. — Horace Walpole

When the Prince of Wales [later King George IV] and the Duke of York went to visit their brother Prince William [later William IV]at Plymouth, and all three being very loose in their manners, and coarse in their language, Prince William said to his ship's crew, now I hope you see that I am not the greatest blackguard of my family. — Horace Walpole

Every drop of ink in my pen ran cold. — Horace Walpole

Lord Bath used to say of women, who are apt to say that they will follow their own judgment, that they could not follow a worse guide. — Horace Walpole

To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know. — Horace Walpole

It was easier to conquer it than to know what to do with it. — Horace Walpole

That strange premature genius Chatterton has couched in one line the quintessence of what Voltaire has said in many pages: Reason, a thorn in Revelation's side. — Horace Walpole

This world is a comedy, not Life. — Horace Walpole

There is nothing I hold so cheap as a learned man , except an unlearned one . — Horace Walpole

Our bells are worn threadbare with ringing for victories — Horace Walpole

My aversion to them ... springs from the perniciousness of that sect to society-I hate Papists, as a man, not as a Protestant. If Papists were only enemies to the religion of other men, I should overlook their errors. As they are foes to liberty, I cannot forgive them. — Horace Walpole

Exercise is the worst thing in the world and as bad an invention as gunpowder. — Horace Walpole

Pedants make a great rout about criticism, as if it were a science of great depth, and required much pains and knowledge
criticism however is only the result of good sense, taste and judgment
three qualities that indeed seldom are found together, and extremely seldom in a pedant, which most critics are. — Horace Walpole