Sydney Smith Quotes

Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It was not reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out.

There is one piece of advice, in a life of study, which I think no one will object to and that is, every now and then to be completely idle - to do nothing at all.

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.

He had occasional flashes of silence, that made his conversation perfectly delightful.

To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can.

You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave.

Errors to be dangerous must have a great deal of truth mingled with them. It is only from this alliance that they can ever obtain an extensive circulation.

Live always in the best company when you read.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for the want of a little courage.