Sir William Temple
Sir William Temple (1628 - 1699), statesman and essayist, son of Sir John Temple, was born in London, and educated at Cambridge. He travelled across Europe, and was for some time a member of the Irish Parliament, employed on various diplomatic missions. During his time as a diplomat, Temple successfully negotiated the marriage of the Prince of Orange and Princess Mary of England, and the Triple Alliance of 1668. On his return he was much consulted by Charles II, but disapproving of the courses adopted, retired to his house at Sheen.
14 Quotes
The abilities of man must fall short on one side or the other, like too scanty a blanket when you are abed. If you pull it upon your shoulders, your feet are left bare; if you thrust it down to your feet, your shoulders are uncovered.
— Sir William Temple
The only way for a rich man to be healthy is by exercise and abstinence, to live as if he were poor.
— Sir William Temple
There cannot live a more unhappy creature than an ill-natured old man, who is neither capable of receiving pleasures, nor sensible of conferring them on others.
— Sir William Temple
The first glass is for myself, the second for my friends, the third for good humor, and the forth for my enemies.
— Sir William Temple
We shall say without hesitation that the atheist who is moved by love is moved by the Spirit of God; an atheist who lives by love is saved by his faith in the God whose existence (under that name) he denies.
— Sir William Temple
Books, like proverbs, receive their chief value from the stamp and esteem of the ages through which they have passed
— Sir William Temple
Who ever converses among old books will be hard to please among the new.
— Sir William Temple
Our present time is indeed a criticizing and critical time, hovering between the wish, and the inability to believe. Our complaints are like arrows shot up into the air at no target: and with no purpose they only fall back upon our own heads and destroy ourselves.
— Sir William Temple
The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit.
— Sir William Temple
When all is done, human life is, at the greatest and the best, but like a froward child, that must be played with and humored a little to keep it quiet till it falls asleep, and then the care is over.
— Sir William Temple
Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies disappointed.
— Sir William Temple
No one ever was a great poet, that applied himself much to anything else.
— Sir William Temple
When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't.
— Sir William Temple
The best rules to form a young man, are, to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one's own opinions, and value others that deserve it.
— Sir William Temple