There were gentlemen and there were seamen in the navy of Charles the Second. But the seamen were not gentlemen; and the gentlemen were not seamen.

Quote by Thomas B Macaulay

Topics: Thomas B Macaulay Quotes

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

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

The effect of violent dislike between groups has always created an indifference to the welfare...

The effect of violent dislike between groups has always created an indifference to the welfare...

People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies,...

People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies,...

To sum up the whole, we should say that the aim of the Platonic philosophy...

To sum up the whole, we should say that the aim of the Platonic philosophy...

An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia.

An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia.

He was a rake among scholars, and a scholar among rakes.

He was a rake among scholars, and a scholar among rakes.

The object of oratory alone in not truth, but persuasion.

The object of oratory alone in not truth, but persuasion.

Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor.

Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor.

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that...

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that...

Turn where we may, within, around, the voice of great events is proclaiming to us,...

Turn where we may, within, around, the voice of great events is proclaiming to us,...

We hold that the most wonderful and splendid proof of genius is a great poem...

We hold that the most wonderful and splendid proof of genius is a great poem...

Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness...

Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness...

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

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

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his...

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his...

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

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

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew...

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew...

We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical...

We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical...

Nothing is so useless as a general maxim.

Nothing is so useless as a general maxim.

The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm.

The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm.

I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history if...

I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history if...