Benjamin Disraeli Quotes

Debt is a prolific mother of folly and of crime.

I think there is nothing more lovely than the love of two beautiful women who are not envious of each other's charms.

Ignorance never settles a question.

Money is power, and rare are the heads that can withstand the possession of great power.

It is the fashion to style the present moment an extraordinary crisis.

Variety is the mother of Enjoyment.

Nobody should ever look anxious except those who have no anxiety.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

I have been ever of opinion that revolutions are not to be evaded.

Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.

Great countries are those that produce great people.

Luck is what a capricious man believes in.

Whatever they did, the Elysians were careful never to be vehement.

He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.

There is no diplomacy like silence.

Whenever you see a man who is successful in society, try to discover what makes him pleasing, and if possible adopt his system.

There is no waste of time in life like that of making explanations.

Characters do not change. Opinions alter, but characters are only developed.

The best security for civilization is the dwelling, and upon properly appointed and becoming dwellings depends, more than anything else, the improvement of mankind.

Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, that splendor is not beauty.

No one but an adventurous traveler can know the luxury of sleep.

As men advance in life, all passions resolve themselves into money. Love, ambition, even poetry, end in this.

You can tell the strength of a nation by the women behind its men.

It shows you exactly how a star is formed; nothing else can be so pretty! A cluster of vapor, the cream of the milky way, a sort of celestial cheese, churned into light.

To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.

A University should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.

The greatest of all evils is a weak government

Certainly Manchester is the most wonderful city of modern times!

Cleanliness and order are not matters of instinct; they are matters of education, and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them.

It is the lot of man to suffer.

A great thing is a great book; but a greater thing than all is the talk of a great man.

King Louis Philippe once said to me that he attributed the great success of the British nation in political life to their talking politics after dinner.

The practice of politics in the East may be defined by one word: dissimulation.

It is useless to deny, and impossible to conceal, that a great part of Europe, the whole of Italy and France, and a great portion of Germany, to say nothing of other countries - is covered with a network of these secret societies, just as the superfices of the Earth are being covered with railroads.

The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps.

There can be economy only where there is efficiency.

One event makes another. What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens; and time can only prove which is most for our advantage.

The feeling of satiety, almost inseparable from large possessions, is a surer cause of misery than ungratified desires.

Destiny is our will, and our will is nature.

Trust not overmuch to the blessed Magdalen; learn to protect yourself.

'A sound Conservative government,' said Taper, musingly. 'I understand: Tory men and Whig measures.'

The character of a woman rapidly develops after marriage, and sometimes seems to change, when in fact it is only complete.

You asked me where I generally lived. In my workshop [i.e. in his study] in the mornings and always in the library in the evening. Books are companions even if you don’t open them.

Be amusing: never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones.

One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

Religion should be the rule of life, not a casual incident in it.

Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.

There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour.