William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Ambition is the luxury of the happy. It is sometimes, but more rarely, the consolation and distraction of the wretched...

Men continually forget that Happiness is a condition of Mind, and not a disposition of circumstances, and one of the most common of errors is that of confusing happiness with the means of happiness, sacrificing the first for the attainment …

There have certainly been many periods in history when virtue was more rare than under the Caesars; but there has probably never been a period when vice was more extravagant or uncontrolled.

instead of diminishing the number of wars, ecclesiastical influence has actually and very seriously increased it.

There was a tradition that Pythagoras had himself penetrated to India, and learnt philosophy from the gymnosophists.

It is abundantly evident, both from history and from present experience, that the instinctive shock, or natural feeling of disgust, caused by the sight of the sufferings of men is not generically different from that which is caused by the …

We are Cavaliers or Roundheads before we are Conservatives or Liberals.

Nations seldom realise till too late how prominent a place a sound system of finance holds among the vital elements of national stability and well-being; how few political changes are worth purchasing by its sacrifice; how widely and …

The great difficulty of Christianity is that many of the Bible revelations seem to clash with our sense of justice and right.

Terror is everywhere the beginning of religion.

The stately ship is seen no more, The fragile skiff attains the shore; And while the great and wise decay, And all their trophies pass away, Some sudden thought, some careless rhyme, Still floats above the wrecks of Time.