Bashfulness is more frequently connected with good sense than we find assurance; and impudence, on the other hand, is often the mere effect of downright stupidity.
William ShenstoneA miser grows rich by seeming poor. An extravagant man grows poor by seeming rich.
William ShenstoneDeference often shrinks and withers as much upon the approach of intimacy as the sensitive plant does upon the touch of one's finger.
William ShenstoneThe works of a person that begin immediately to decay, while those of him who plants begin directly to improve. In this, planting promises a more lasting pleasure than building; which, were it to remain in equal perfection, would at best begin to moulder and want repairs in imagination. Now trees have a circumstance that suits our taste, and that is annual variety.
William Shenstone