Remarks by Sir Walter Scott | V2Melody Quotations

Search

Topic

Browse topics

Showing 18 of 18 remarks

“Let men of letters fight their own way with the public.”

Arguing that writers should earn their standing through their work and readers · Letter to Lord Sidmouth, 20 April 1821

“These cats are a very mysterious kind of folk. There is always more passing in their minds than we are aware of.”

A playful acknowledgement of the mystery of animal consciousness · Conversation at Abbotsford, recalled by Washington Irving

“But I can see as many castles in the clouds as any man, as many genii in the curling smoke of a steam engine, as perfect a Persepolis in the embers of a sea-coal fire.”

Celebrating an imagination capable of transforming ordinary sights · Journal, 1 January 1827

“Last day of an eventful year; much evil and some good; but especially the courage to endure what Fortune sends without becoming a pipe for her fingers.”

Valuing resilience in the face of unpredictable fortune · Journal, 30 December 1826

“I half grieve to take up my pen, and doubt if it is worth while to record such an infinite quantity of nothing, but hang it! I hate to be beat, so here goes for better behaviour.”

Turning self-doubt into renewed determination to continue · Journal, January 1829

“Whether I succeed or not, it would be dastardly to give in. A bold countenance often carries off an indifferent cause, but no one will defend him who shows the white feather.”

Affirming perseverance even when success is uncertain · Journal, 15 April 1829

“Solitude is only agreeable when the power of having society is removed to a short space, and can be commanded at pleasure.”

Distinguishing chosen solitude from unwanted isolation · Journal, 18 March 1829

“I always laugh when I hear people say, Do one thing at once. I have done a dozen things at once all my life.”

Describing his lifelong habit of working on several things at once · Journal, 7 December 1827

“Many a clever boy is flogged into a dunce, and many an original composition corrected into mediocrity.”

Criticising education and editing that suppress natural ability · Journal, 29 June 1826

“A five years' march down the wrong side of the hill tells more than ten on the right side.”

A vivid reflection on how ageing seems to accelerate · Letter to Sophia Scott, 3 April 1820

“In the exercise of your duty, be tender of the lower classes; and as you are strong, be merciful.”

Linking authority with compassion towards those with less power · Letter to Walter Scott, 17 March 1821

“Let me earnestly recommend in your reading to keep fast to particular hours, and suffer no one thing to encroach on the other.”

Advocating disciplined habits of reading and study · Letter to Walter Scott, 17 March 1821

“The knowledge which we acquire by our own unaided efforts, is much more tenaciously retained by the memory, while the exertion necessary to gain it strengthens the understanding.”

Arguing that self-directed learning strengthens both memory and mind · Letter to Walter Scott, 17 March 1821

“But it must be by your own exertions, my dearest boy, that you must render yourself qualified to avail yourself of the opportunities which you may have offered to you.”

Emphasising personal effort in making use of opportunity · Letter to Walter Scott, 17 March 1821

“If that which is first in hand is not instantly, steadily, and regularly despatched, other things accumulate behind till affairs begin to press all at once, and no human brain can stand the confusion.”

Warning how postponed tasks multiply into confusion · Letter to D. Terry, 18 April 1819

“Do instantly whatever is to be done, and take the hours of reflection or recreation after business, and never before it.”

Urging prompt action before leisure and reflection · Letter to D. Terry, 18 April 1819

“But never a being, from my infancy upwards, hated task-work as I hate it; and yet I have done a great deal in my day.”

A humorous confession about achievement despite resistance to routine · Journal, 1 December 1825

“I have all my life regretted that I did not keep a regular Journal.”

Reflecting on memory and the value of recording a life · Journal, 20 November 1825