George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax Quotes

Men make it such a point of honour to be fit for business that they forget to examine whether business is fit for a man.

The first mistake belonging to business is the going into it.

The vanity of teaching often tempteth a Man to forget he is a Blockhead.

Malice, like Lust, when it is at the Height, doth not know Shame.

Malice is of a low Stature, but it hath very long Arms. It often reacheth into the next World, Death itself is not a Bar to it.

Hope is generally a wrong Guide, though it is very good Company by the way. It brusheth through Hedge and Ditch till it cometh to a great Leap, and there it is apt to fall and break its Bones.

Most men make little other use of their Speech than to give evidence against their own Understanding.

It is Ill-manners to silence a Fool, and Cruelty to let him go on.

In this Age, when it is said of a Man, He knows how to live , it may be imply’d he is not very honest.

No Man is so much a Fool as not to have Wit enough sometimes to be a Knave ; nor any so cunning a Knave, as not to have the Weakness sometimes to play the Fool.

Popularity is a Crime from the Moment it is sought ; it is only a Virtue where Men have it whether they will or no.

There is Reason to think the most celebrated Philosophers would have been Bunglers at Business ; but the Reason is because they despised it.

Anger is never without an Argument, but seldom with a good one.

The best way to suppose what may come, is to remember what is past.

Malice is of a low Stature, but it hath very long Arms.