Thomas B. Macaulay Quotes

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?
Thomas B. Macaulay

Die, Gods, Odds

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Poor, Rather, Desire

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Politics, Freedom, Fool

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Character, Real, Found

Nothing except the mint can make money without advertising.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Money, Nothing, Except

Nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from the birth as a paternal, or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read, and say, and eat, and drink and wear.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Government, Nothing, Words

Nothing is so useless as a general maxim.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Nothing, General, Useless

The effect of violent dislike between groups has always created an indifference to the welfare and honor of the state.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Between, Honor, State

A good constitution is infinitely better than the best despot.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Good, Best, Despot

A single breaker may recede; but the tide is evidently coming in.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Single, May, Coming

People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Power, Law, Laws

Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Poetry, Mind, Person

An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia.
Thomas B. Macaulay

As civilization advances, poetry almost necessarily declines.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Poetry, Almost, Advances

Few of the many wise apothegms which have been uttered have prevented a single foolish action.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Wisdom, Wise, Single

He had a wonderful talent for packing thought close, and rendering it portable.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Thought, Wonderful, Talent

He was a rake among scholars, and a scholar among rakes.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Among, Scholar, Scholars

I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Life, History, True

I shall not be satisfied unless I produce something which shall for a few days supersede the last fashionable novel on the tables of young ladies.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Young, Last, Few

Reform, that we may preserve.
Thomas B. Macaulay

May, Reform, Preserve

She thoroughly understands what no other Church has ever understood, how to deal with enthusiasts.
Thomas B. Macaulay

She, Church, Deal

Such night in England ne'er had been, nor ne'er again shall be.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Night, Again, Nor

Temple was a man of the world amongst men of letters, a man of letters amongst men of the world.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Men, Letters, Temple

That is the best government which desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Best, Government, Happy

The best portraits are those in which there is a slight mixture of caricature.
Thomas B. Macaulay

Best, Caricature, Portraits

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Biography

Nationality: English

Type: Historian

Born: 1800

Died: 1859

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Cite this Page: Citation

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