Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (September 1, 1789 – June 4, 1849) was an Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess (Click here for full Wikipedia article)
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A profound knowledge of life is the least enviable of all species of knowledge, because it can only be acquired by trials that make us regret the loss of our ignorance.
A woman should not paint sentiment till she has ceased to inspire it.
A woman's head is always influenced by her heart; but a man's heart is always influenced by his head.
Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.
Despotism subjects a nation to one tyrant; democracy, to many.
Friends are the thermometers by which we may judge the temperature of our fortunes.
Genius is the gold in the mine, talent is the miner who works and brings it out.
Happiness consists not in having much, but in being content with little.
He who fears not, is to be feared.
It is better to die young than to outlive all one loved, and all that rendered one lovable.
Life would be as insupportable without the prospect of death, as it would be without sleep.
Listeners beware, for ye are doomed never to hear good of yourselves.
Love and enthusiasm are always ridiculous, when not reciprocated by their objects.
Love in France is a comedy; in England a tragedy; in Italy an opera seria; and in Germany a melodrame.
Mediocrity is beneath a brave soul.
Memory seldom fails when its office is to show us the tombs of our buried hopes.
Men who would persecute others for religious opinions, prove the errors of their own.
Mountains appear more lofty, the nearer they are approached; but great men, to retain their altitude, must only be viewed from a distance.
One of the most marked characteristics of our day is a reckless neglect of principles, and a rigid adherence to their semblance.
Only vain people wage war against the vanity of others.
People are always willing to follow advice when it accords with their own wishes.
Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart.
Reason dissipates the illusions of life, but does not console us for their departure.
Religion converts despair, which destroys, into resignation, which submits.
Society punishes not the vices of its members, but their detection.
Superstition is but the fear of belief.
The difference between weakness and wickedness is much less than people suppose; and the consequences are nearly always the same.
The future: A consolation for those who have no other.
The infirmities of genius are often mistaken for its privileges.
The vices of the rich and great are mistaken for errors; and those of the poor and lowly, for crimes.
There is no casting anchor in the stream of time!
Those who are formed to win general admiration are seldom calculated to bestow individual happiness.
Virtue, like a dowerless beauty, has more admirers than followers.
We become occupied with our own existence in proportion as it ceases to be interesting to others.
We have a reading, a talking, and a writing public. When shall we have a thinking?
When we find that we are not liked, we assert that we are not understood; when probably the dislike we have excited proceeds from our being too fully comprehended.
Wit is the lightning of the mind, reason the sunshine, and reflection the moonlight.
Categories: Countess of Blessington, Marguerite Gardiner
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