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"34 Walter Bagehot Quotes & Sayings

      British     /     View profile
Born: 3 February 1826. Died: 24 March 1877 | Journalist | Businessman | Essayist |

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

Greatest Life Pleasure People
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An inability to stay quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind.

Conspicuous Failings Inability Mankind
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Poverty is an anomaly to rich people; it is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner do not ring the bell.

Anomaly Bell Difficult Dinner
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Woman absent is woman dead.

Absent Dead Woman
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Honor sinks where commerce long prevails.

Commerce Honor Long Prevails
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It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations.

Good Temptations Vices Without
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The cure for admiring the House of Lords is to go and look at it.
Admiring Cure House Look
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An influential member of parliament has not only to pay much money to become such, and to give time and labour, he has also to sacrifice his mind too - at least all the characteristics part of it that which is original and most his own.

Mind Time Labour Original
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A Parliament is nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people.

Big People Idle Less
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The best reason why Monarchy is a strong government is, that it is an intelligible government. The mass of mankind understand it, and they hardly anywhere in the world understand any other.

Reason Strong Intelligible World
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The being without an opinion is so painful to human nature that most people will leap to a hasty opinion rather than undergo it.

Being Hasty Human Leap
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Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one - in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indication of its success.

Bad Dullness Excellence Good
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No real English gentleman, in his secret soul, was ever sorry for the death of a political economist.

Secret Death Real Soul
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One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.

Greatest Human Idea Nature
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Conquest is the missionary of valor, and the hard impact of military virtues beats meanness out of the world.

Beats Conquest Hard Impact
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An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.

Spectacle Agent Simply Also
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An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.

Element Soft Great Virtues
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It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations.

Ruled Often Truer Governed
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The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.

First Deadly Invaluable Whole
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A slight daily unconscious luxury is hardly ever wanting to the dwellers in civilization; like the gentle air of a genial climate, it is a perpetual minute enjoyment.

Slight Gentle Luxury Air
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Men who do not make advances to women are apt to become victims to women who make advances to them.

Victims Women Advances Become
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In every particular state of the world, those nations which are strongest tend to prevail over the others; and in certain marked peculiarities the strongest tend to be the best.

Best Certain Every Marked
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Writers like teeth are divided into incisors and grinders.

Divided Like Teeth Writers
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The reason that there are so few good books written is that so few people who write know anything.

Write Reason Good Books
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All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality - the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape.

Reality Times Best Escape
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So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism - despotism during the campaign - is indispensable.

Nations Main Campaign Long
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What impresses men is not mind, but the result of mind.

Men Mind Result Impresses
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The real essence of work is concentrated energy.

Concentrated Energy Essence Real
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A man's mother is his misfortune, but his wife is his fault.

Fault Man Misfortune Mother
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Nothing is more unpleasant than a virtuous person with a mean mind.

Virtuous Person Mean Mind
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The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be.

Agreeable Greatest Mistake More
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A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life.

Brings Down Family Idea
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The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.

Art Best Casts Certain
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So long as there are earnest believers in the world, they will always wish to punish opinions, even if their judgment tells them it is unwise and their conscience that it is wrong.

Long Punish Wish Unwise
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Walter Bagehot Quotes & Sayings