Quotes by Thomas Babington Macaulay

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I cannot imagine a philosophy which has a more injurious influence on the morality and independence of writers, than that which teaches them to feed on the goodwill of ministers and nobility. No other philosophy can so well turn men, intended by nature to be our blessing and adornment, into the shame and plague of society.

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An acre of land in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia.

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About England: Our democracy was from the beginning aristocratic, and our aristocracy was the most democratic in the world.

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The new philosophy is a philosophy that never rests, that never reaches its goal, its perfection. Its law is progress. The area that was not visible yesterday is today its place of action, and tomorrow will be its starting point.

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There is no more destructive power than the ability to portray people in a funny way.

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Nothing is more useful to a people than freedom of trade—and nothing more unpopular.

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There is nothing more absurd than a maxim on a general theme.

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There is nothing more useless than universal rules.

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It is no exaggeration when it is said that Shakespeare's great works would lose less if they were deprived of all the so-called beauties, than they lose these beautiful places, when they are read apart from the whole of the work. This may be the highest praise that can be paid to a playwright.

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Nowadays, a real university is a collection of books.

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The forced subordination of colonies is usually more expensive than they actually cost.

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Violence is the essence of war.

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The first fruits gathered by a bad husbandman are often planted by a good husbandman.

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According to Plato, man is made for philosophy, according to Bacon - philosophy is made for man.

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Poetry does not need an analytical spirit, but a faithful spirit.

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What applies to everyone generally applies to no one.

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The purpose of oratory is not truth, but persuasion.

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A good government is not one that wants to make people happy, but one that knows how to do it.

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The cunning despise knowledge, the simple marvel at it, the wise use it.

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A philosophy which can teach man to be absolutely happy, even in the face of unbearable pain, is far better than a philosophy which soothes pain... A philosophy which fights against greed is far better than a philosophy which makes laws for protecting property.

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The wise...have always looked with great suspicion upon both the angels and the demons of the crowd.

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What interests everyone, interests no one.

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Those who compare the century in which they are destined to live with the golden age, which exists only in our imaginations, may speak of degeneration and collapse; but she who knows the past well, will never be discouraged by it.

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A Puritan hates bear hunting not because it causes pain to the bear, but because it gives pleasure to the public.

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The causes of a conflict multiply with the naked eye.

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The rulers should not accuse the people of lack of patriotism, but should do everything in their power to make them patriots.

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The purpose of the mirror is not to draw on it.

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Louis XIV, more than anyone else, demonstrated two of the talents required of a king: to choose his companions well and to assign the lion's share of their merits.

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The love of the crowd resembles the love of that voluptuous sorceress of the Arabian stories, who not only left her lovers after forty days of tenderness on her part, but also compelled them - by the most terrible punishments - to atone for their guilt and pay because he once liked them too much.

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In war, measure is an unpardonable folly.

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Analysis is not the job of the poet. His vocation is to reproduce, not to divide.

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A great mind and a great mountain are the first to catch and reflect the morning sun.

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In any age the most vicious representatives of the human race must be sought among the popular leaders.

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Nowadays, many politicians are wont to speak with aplomb about the fact that the people do not deserve freedom until they learn to use it. This conclusion honors the fool in an old story who decided not to enter the water until he learned to swim.

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The correct definition of politeness would be: kindness in small things.

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There won't be ten people in the whole world whose deaths would spoil my dinner, but there are one or two whose deaths would break my heart.

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In the fleet of Charles II there were gentlemen and sailors, but the sailors were not gentlemen, and the gentlemen were not sailors.

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Reward and punishment dominate everything in the world. Anything but the heart.

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Every tyrant is so interested that he alone may plunder his people, and the means by which this end is attained are so plain and simple, that it is probably easier for the people to live under a tyranny of the most brutal than in anarchy.

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He who, joining educated literary society, aspires to become a great poet, must, at first, become a little child. He must sift the fabric of his soul. He must forget much of what, perhaps, until now was for him a foundation of his own superiority. His talents will be an obstacle for him.

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A small good deed is better than the most solemn promises to do the impossible.

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The law exists in vain for those who have neither the courage nor the means to defend it.

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If the slaves wait for freedom until they grow smarter, they will have a long time to wait…

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The Jew is what we make of him.

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Probably no one can be a poet, even if he loves poetry, if he is not at least a little crazy.

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The dominant religion is never ascetic.

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Ancient philosophy was not a path, but a mill. It consists of questions that went round in circles, and of contradictions that returned to the starting point. There is enormous tension in it and there is no progress.

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Many politicians voice it as a self-evident proposition: the people should only be free if they can already enjoy their freedom. This insightful conclusion is worthy of the fool in the anecdote, who knowingly decided that he would only go into the water if he had already learned to swim.

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The ultimate, ripe fruit of freedom is wisdom, moderation and compassion. Its direct consequence, however, is often a horrible sin, increasing error, doubt is the most obvious, blind faith in the most obscure things. His opponents like to expose freedom to the public at this time of crisis... if this kind of wretched hypocrisy triumphed, no good house would ever be built, no good government would be established anywhere in the world.

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What would be more beautiful in death than to shed blood for the temple of our Gods and for the ashes of our ancestors?

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On the basis of what principle is it possible that while looking back we only see progress, looking forward we expect only deterioration?

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History brings its lessons. Our age has certainly been successful in scaring away the excellent and comforting the insignificant.

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In our society, a woman loses her place by doing what is often considered an amazing merit in a man, but even in the worst case, a forgivable mistake.

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The measure of a man's true character is what he would do if no one ever found out what he was doing.

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The sins caused by the new freedom can only be removed by one drug - and that magic drug is freedom.

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I would rather be a pauper in a hut full of books than a king who lacks the passion for reading.