John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 460
| Sydney Smith. (1771–1845) (continued) |
| 4856 |
| We cultivate literature on a little oatmeal. 1 |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 23. |
| 4857 |
| Truth is its [justice’s] handmaid, freedom is its child, peace is its companion, safety walks in its steps, victory follows in its train; it is the brightest emanation from the Gospel; it is the attribute of God. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 29. |
| 4858 |
| It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 53. |
| 4859 |
| Avoid shame, but do not seek glory,—nothing so expensive as glory. 2 |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 88. |
| 4860 |
| Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 130. |
| 4861 |
| Looked as if she had walked straight out of the ark. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 157. |
| 4862 |
| The Smiths never had any arms, and have invariably sealed their letters with their thumbs. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 244. |
| 4863 |
| Not body enough to cover his mind decently with; his intellect is improperly exposed. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 258. |
| 4864 |
| He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again. 3 |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 259. |
| 4865 |
| You find people ready enough to do the Samaritan, without the oil and twopence. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 261. |
| 4866 |
| Ah, you flavour everything; you are the vanilla of society. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 262. |
| 4867 |
| My living in Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles from a lemon. |
| Lady Holland’s Memoir. Vol. i. p. 262. |
| Note 1. Mr. Smith, with reference to the “Edinburgh Review,” says: “The motto I proposed for the ‘Review’ was ‘Tenui musam meditamur avena;’ but this was too near the truth to be admitted; so we took our present grave motto from Publius Syrus, of whom none of us had, I am sure, read a single line.” [back] |
| Note 2. A favorite motto, which through life Mr. Smith inculcated on his family. [back] |
| Note 3. See Cowper, Quotation 68. [back] |