With every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderate amount of good; but it seems in the power of the most contemptible individual to do incalculable mischief.
Washington IrvingThe Englishman is too apt to neglect the present good in preparing against the possible evil.
Washington IrvingThere is a remembrance of the dead to which we turn even from the charms of the living.
Washington IrvingThose who are well assured of their own standing are least apt to trespass on that of others, whereas nothing is so offensive as the aspirings of vulgarity which thinks to elevate itself by humiliating its neighbor.
Washington IrvingA few amber clouds floated in the sky without a breath of air to move them. The horizon was of a fine golden tint, changing gradually into a pure apple-green, and from that into the deep blue of the mid-heaven.
Washington IrvingWashington, in fact, had very little private life, but was eminently a public character.
Washington IrvingInto the space of one little hour sins enough may be conjured up by evil tongues to blast the fame of a whole life of virtue.
Washington IrvingThere is a serene and settled majesty to woodland scenery that enters into the soul and delights and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations.
Washington IrvingChristmas is here, Merry old Christmas, Gift-bearing Christmas, Day of grand memories, King of the year!
Washington IrvingThe great British Library --an immense collection of volumes of all ages and languages, many of which are now forgotten, and most of which are seldom read: one of these sequestered pools of obsolete literature to which modern authors repair, and draw buckets full of classic lore, or pure English, undefiled wherewith to swell their own scanty rills of thought.
Washington IrvingRedundancy of language is never found with deep reflection. Verbiage may indicate observation, but not thinking. He who thinks much says but little in proportion to his thoughts.
Washington IrvingA mother is the truest friend we have when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity.
Washington IrvingHe who thinks much says but little in proportion to his thoughts. He selects that language which will convey his ideas in the most explicit and direct manner.
Washington IrvingNothing impresses the mind with a deeper feeling of loneliness than to tread the silent and deserted scene of former throng and pageant.
Washington IrvingThe land of literature is a fairy land to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, the charm fades on a nearer approach, and the thorns and briars become visible.
Washington IrvingAngling is an amusement peculiarly adapted to the mild and cultivated scenery of England
Washington IrvingOne point is certain, that truth is one and immutable; until the jurors all agree, they cannot all be right.
Washington IrvingIt is but seldom that any one overt act produces hostilities between two nations; there exists, more commonly, a previous jealousy and ill will, a predisposition to take offense.
Washington IrvingThe moan of the whip-poor-will from the hillside; the boding cry of the tree-toad, that harbinger of storm; the dreary hooting of the screechowl.
Washington IrvingOne of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more.
Washington IrvingSometimes the table was graced with immense apple-pies, or saucers full of preserved peaches and pears; but it was always sure to boast an enormous dish of balls of sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks - a delicious kind of cake, at present scarce known in this city, except in genuine Dutch families.
Washington IrvingHe who thinks much says but little in proportion to his thoughts. He selects that language which will convey his ideas in the most explicit and direct manner. He tries to compress as much thought as possible into a few words. On the contrary, the man who talks everlastingly and promiscuously, who seems to have an exhaustless magazine of sound, crowds so many words into his thoughts that he always obscures, and very frequently conceals them.
Washington IrvingI value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow.
Washington IrvingSpeculation is the romance of trade, and casts contempt upon on all its sober realities. It renders the stock-jobber a magician, and the exchange a region of enchantment.
Washington IrvingHe is the true enchanter, whose spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart.
Washington IrvingA father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all.
Washington IrvingFor what is history, but... huge libel on human nature, to which we industriously add page after page, volume after volume, as if we were holding up a monument to the honor, rather than the infamy of our species.
Washington IrvingThere is a healthful hardiness about real dignity that never dreads contact and communion with others however humble.
Washington IrvingThere are certain half-dreaming moods of mind in which we naturally steal away from noise and glare, and seek some quiet haunt where we may indulge our reveries and build our air castles undisturbed.
Washington IrvingChristmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
Washington IrvingThose men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the discipline of shrews at home.
Washington IrvingLittle minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
Washington IrvingIn civilized life, where the happiness, and indeed almost the existence, of man depends so much upon the opinion of his fellow men, he is constantly acting a studied part.
Washington IrvingThe idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow.
Washington Irving