Quote#World
As in literature we shall find many things that are true, and some…
Quote byCharles Caleb Colton · 1777–1832
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Volume 1, Vol. I; CXIV.
English (original)
As in literature we shall find many things that are true, and some things that are new, but very few things that are both true and new, so also in life, we shall find many men that are great, and some men that are good, but very few men that are both great and good.
— Charles Caleb Colton
More from Charles Caleb Colton
We should have a glorious conflagration, if all who cannot put fire into their works would only consent to put their works into the fire.
That author, however, who has thought more than he has read, read more than he has written, and written more than he published, if he does not command success, has at least deserved it.
Discretion has been termed the better part of valour, and it is more certain, that diffidence is the better part of knowledge.
If we can advance any propositions that are both true and new, these are indisputably our own, by right of discovery; and if we can repeat what is old more briefly and brightly than others, this also becomes our own, by right of conquest.
Style is indeed the valet of genius, and an able one too; but as the true gentleman will appear, even in rags, so true genius will shine, even through the coarsest style.
A volume, therefore, that contains more words than ideas, like a tree that has more foliage than fruit, may suit those to resort to, who want not to feast, but to dream and to slumber.