We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very axioms, let us boast of free-thinking as we may, are oftenest simply such beliefs as we have never heard questioned

Quote by Thomas Carlyle

Topics: Custom Quotes

In books lies the soul of the whole past time.

In books lies the soul of the whole past time.

History, a distillation of rumour.

History, a distillation of rumour.

The three great elements of modern civilization, Gun powder, Printing, and the Protestant religion.

The three great elements of modern civilization, Gun powder, Printing, and the Protestant religion.

The man of life upright has a guiltless heart, free from all dishonest deeds or...

The man of life upright has a guiltless heart, free from all dishonest deeds or...

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness.

Men are to be guided only by their self-interests. Good government is a good balancing...

Men are to be guided only by their self-interests. Good government is a good balancing...

Teach a parrot the terms supply and demand and you've got an economist.

Teach a parrot the terms supply and demand and you've got an economist.

The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.

The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.

The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to...

The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently, but to...

Ill-health, of body or of mind, is defeat. Health alone is victory. Let all men,...

Ill-health, of body or of mind, is defeat. Health alone is victory. Let all men,...

Woe to him that claims obedience when it is not due; woe to him that...

Woe to him that claims obedience when it is not due; woe to him that...

Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to...

Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to...

What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and...

What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and...

A person who is gifted sees the essential point and leaves the rest as surplus.

A person who is gifted sees the essential point and leaves the rest as surplus.

Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.

Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.

What we might call, by way of eminence, the Dismal Science

What we might call, by way of eminence, the Dismal Science

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom...

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom...

If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get...

If you do not wish a man to do a thing, you had better get...

There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary...

There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary...

Thought once awakened does not again slumber; unfolds itself into a System of Thought; grows,...

Thought once awakened does not again slumber; unfolds itself into a System of Thought; grows,...