That politeness which we put on, in order to keep the assuming and the presumptuous at a proper distance will generally succeed. But it sometimes happens that these obtrusive characters are on such excellent terms with themselves that they put down this very politeness to the score of their own great merits and high pretensions, meeting the coldness of our reserve with a ridiculous condescension of familiarity, in order to set us at ease with ourselves.
Charles Caleb ColtonIn order to try whether a vessel be leaky, we first prove it with water before we trust it with wine.
Charles Caleb ColtonFalsehood is often rocked by truth, but she soon outgrows her cradle and discards her nurse.
Charles Caleb ColtonThe wisest man may be wiser to-day than he was yesterday, and to-morrow than he is to-day. Total freedom from change would imply total freedom from error; but this is the prerogative of Omniscience alone.
Charles Caleb ColtonPosthumous charities are the very essence of selfishness when bequeathed by those who, even alive, would part with nothing.
Charles Caleb Colton