This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
HORACE WALPOLE, letter to Lady Ossory, Aug. 16, 1776
Defaced ruins of architecture and statuary, like the wrinkles of decrepitude of a once beautiful woman, only make one regret that one did not see them when they were enchanting.
HORACE WALPOLE, Horace Walpole's Miscellany
What is called chance is the instrument of Providence and the secret agent that counteracts what men call wisdom, and preserves order and regularity, and continuation in the whole, for ... I firmly believe, notwithstanding all our complaints, that almost every person upon earth tastes upon the totality more happiness than misery; and therefore if we could correct the world to our fancies, and with the best intentions imaginable, probably we should only produce more misery and confusion.
HORACE WALPOLE, letter, Jan. 19, 1777
By deafness one gains in one respect more than one loses; one misses more nonsense than sense.
HORACE WALPOLE, Horace Walpole's Miscellany
Fashion is always silly, for, before it can spread far, it must be calculated for silly people; as examples of sense, wit, or ingenuity could be imitated only by a few.
HORACE WALPOLE, letter to Sir Horace Mann, Sep. 8, 1782
Fashion is fortunately no law but to its devotees.
HORACE WALPOLE, letter to the Earl of Strafford, Jun. 24, 1783
The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.
HORACE WALPOLE, The Letters of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Prognostics do not always prove prophecies, at least the wisest prophets make sure of the event first.
HORACE WALPOLE, letter to Thomas Walpole, February 9, 1785
Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.
HORACE WALPOLE, The Monthly Review, 1798
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