Horace Walpole Quotes

English writer and politician (1717–1797)

Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), more commonly known as Horace Walpole, was a British politician and writer, noted for his collected letters and for having written the first Gothic horror novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764).

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pen Names: Onuphrio Muralto

Alternative Names: Sir Horace Walpole • Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole • Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford • Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford • Horatio Walpole

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My soul abhors a falsehood

Nor have I forgotten sir. that the charity of his daughter delivered me from his power. I can forget injuries but never benefits.

"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."

هذا العالم كوميديا للذين يفكرون ... و مأساة للذين يشعرون.

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?

Look, my Lord! see, Heaven itself declares against your impious intentions!”

“Heaven nor Hell shall impede my designs,” said Manfred, advancing again to seize the Princess.

As I never wear a hat myself, it is indifferent to me what sort of hat I don't wear.

He sighed, and retired, but with eyes fixed on the gate, until Matilda, closing it, put an end to an interview, in which the hearts of both had drunk so deeply of a passion, which both now tasted for the first time.

"If you love good roads, conveniences, good inns, plenty of postilions and horses, be so kind as to never go into Sussex. We thought ourselves in the northest part of England; the whole country has a Saxon air, and the inhabitants are savage."

- To George Montagu, Esq., August 26, 1749

The wisest prophets make sure of the event first.

THE FOLLOWING WORK was found in the library of an ancient Catholic family in the north of England. It was printed at Naples, in the black letter, in the year 1529. How much sooner it was written does not appear. The principal incidents are such as were believed in the darkest ages of Christianity; but the language and conduct have nothing that savours of barbarism. The style is the purest Italian.

Misfortune, the teacher of superstition.

- Attributed by Walpole to his friend, Richard Bentley.

No, Isabella,” said the Princess, “I should not deserve this incomparable parent, if the inmost recesses of my soul harboured a thought without her permission — nay, I have offended her; I have suffered a passion to enter my heart without her avowal — but here I disclaim it; here I vow to heaven and her —

There is no good crying about the matter. Cousin America has run off with the Presbyterian parson and that is the end of it.

It occurred to me some years ago, that the picture of Richard the Third, as drawn by historians, was a character formed by prejudice and invention. I did not take Shakespeare's tragedy for a genuine representation, but I did take the story of that reign for a tragedy of imagination.