Quotes By Thomas B. Macaulay

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.

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

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

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?

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.

A good constitution is infinitely better than the best despot.

I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors.

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