William M. Thackeray Quotes

"To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained -- who can say this is not greatness?"

"Who misses, or who wins the prize?Go, lose and conquer as you can:But if you fail, or if you rise,Be each, pray God, a gentleman."

"'Tis strange what a man may do, and a woman yet think him an angel."

"Then sing as Martin Luther sang:"Who loves not wine, woman, and song,He is a fool his whole life long!"

"Whenever he met a great man he groveled before him, and my-lorded him as only a free-born Briton can do."

"There lived a sage in days of yore, And he a handsome pigtail wore; But wondered much and sorrowed more Because it hung behind him."

"I never know whether to pity or congratulate a man on coming to his senses."

"Certain opuscules, denominated 'Christmas Books,' with the ostensible intention of swelling the tide of exhilaration, or other expansive emotions, incident upon the exodus of the old and the inauguration of the new year"

"So he sighed and pined and ogled,And his passion boiled and bubbled,Till he blew his silly brains out,And no more was by it troubled."

"Bravery never goes out of fashion"

"Come children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out."

"People who do not know how to laugh are always pompous and self-conceited."

"To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go through intrigue spotless; to forego even ambition when the end is gained - who can say this is not greatness?"

"Except for the young or very happy, I can't say I am sorry for anyone who dies."

"We should pay as much reverence to youth as we should to age; there are points in which you young folks are altogether our superiors: and I can't help constantly crying out to persons of my own years, when busied about their young people -- leave them alone; don't be always meddling with their affairs, which they can manage for themselves; don't be always insisting upon managing their boats, and putting your oars in the water with theirs."

"The book of female logic is blotted all over with tears, and Justice in their courts is forever in a passion."

"Bravery never goes out of fashion."

"Follow your honest convictions and be strong."

"It is only hope which is real, and reality is a bitterness and a deceit."

"Remember, it's as easy to marry a rich woman as a poor woman."