Walter Bagehot – Page 2

The most intellectual of men are moved quite as much by the circumstances which they are used to as by their own will. The active voluntary part of a man is very small, and if it were not economized by a sleepy kind of habit, its results would be null. – Walter Bagehot

The habit of common and continuous speech is a symptom of mental deficiency. It proceeds from not knowing what is going on in other peoples minds. – Walter Bagehot

Writers like teeth are divided into incisors and grinders. – Walter Bagehot

So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism – despotism during the campaign – is indispensable. – Walter Bagehot

Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one – in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indication of its success. – Walter Bagehot

The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards. – Walter Bagehot

The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen. – Walter Bagehot

A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. – Walter Bagehot

Progress would not have been the rarity it is if the early food had not been the late poison. – Walter Bagehot

A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life. – Walter Bagehot

No real English gentleman, in his secret soul, was ever sorry for the death of a political economist. – Walter Bagehot

It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations. – Walter Bagehot

An inability to stay quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind. – Walter Bagehot

An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind. – Walter Bagehot

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea. – Walter Bagehot