William Gilmore Simms Men Quotations

Most men remember obligations, but are not often likely to be grateful; the proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.

The fool is willing to pay for anything but wisdom. No man buys that of which he supposes himself to have an abundance already.

Revelation may not need the help of reason, but man does, even when in possession of revelation. Reason may be described as the candle in the man's hand, to which revelation brings the necessary flame.

No doubt solitude is wholesome, but so is abstinence after a surfeit. The true life of man is in society.

Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful; the proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.

The amiable is a duty most certainly, but must not be exercised at the expense of any of the virtues. He who seeks to do the amiable always, can only be successful at the frequent expense of his manhood.

The effect of character is always to command consideration. We sport and toy and laugh with men or women who have none, but we never confide in them.

The only rational liberty is that which is born of subjection, reared in the fear of God and the love of man.