nothing is more common than to mistake the sign for the thing itself; nor is any practice more frequent than that of endeavoring to acquire the exterior mark, without once thinking to labor after the interior grace.
Hannah MoreIdleness among children, as among men, is the root of all evil, and leads to no other evil more certain than ill temper.
Hannah MoreYouth has a quickness of apprehension, which it is very apt to mistake for an acuteness of penetration.
Hannah MoreAfter all that corrupt poets, and more corrupt philosophers, have told us of the blandishments of pleasure, and of its tendency to soften the temper and humanize the affections, it is certain, that nothing hardens the heart like excessive and unbounded luxury; and he who refuses the fewest gratifications to his own voluptuousness, will generally be found the least susceptible of tenderness for the wants of others.
Hannah More