Contemporaries appreciate the person rather than their merit, posterity will regard the merit rather than the person.
Charles Caleb ColtonThey that are loudest in their threats are the weakest in the execution of them. It is probable that he who is killed by lightning hears no noise; but the thunder-clap which follows, and which most alarms the ignorant, is the surest proof of their safety.
Charles Caleb ColtonConstant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits, so it silences those enemies from whom alone we can learn our defects.
Charles Caleb Colton