The moral duty to be expected in different ages is not a unity of standard, or of acts, but a unity of tendency ... At one time the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world.
William Edward Hartpole LeckyOne of the most important lessons that experience teaches is that, on the whole, success depends more upon character than upon either intellect or fortune.
William Edward Hartpole LeckyFierce invectives against women form a conspicuous and grotesque portion of the writings of the Church fathers.
William Edward Hartpole LeckyThe contraction of theological influence has been at once the best measure, and the essential condition of intellectual advance.
William Edward Hartpole LeckyHighly graduate taxation realizes most completely the supreme danger of democracy, creating a state of things in which one class imposes on another burdens which it is not asked to share, and impels the State into vast schemes of extravagance, under the belief that the whole costs will be thrown upon others.
William Edward Hartpole Lecky