The assumption of merit is easier, less embarrassing, and more effectual than the actual attainment of it.
William HazlittGeneral principles are not the less true or important because from their nature they elude immediate observation; they are like the air, which is not the less necessary because we neither see nor feel it.
William HazlittA nickname is the heaviest stone that the devil can throw at a man. It is a bugbear to the imagination, and, though we do not believe in it, it still haunts our apprehensions.
William Hazlitt