No man who is correctly informed as to the past will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the present.
Thomas B. MacaulayIt is certain that satirical poems were common at Rome from a very early period. The rustics, who lived at a distance from the seat of government, and took little part in the strife of factions, gave vent to their petty local animosities in coarse Fescennine verse.
Thomas B. MacaulayIt is possible to be below flattery as well as above it. One who trusts nobody will not trust sycophants. One who does not value real glory will not value its counterfeit.
Thomas B. MacaulayWe never could clearly understand how it is that egotism, so unpopular in conversation, should be so popular in writing.
Thomas B. Macaulay