This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Madame Swetchine, fully Anne Sophie Swetchine née Sophia Petrovna Soïmonov or Soymanof
Our vanity is the constant enemy of our dignity.
Richard Steele, fully Sir Richard Steele
Extinguish vanity in the mind, and you naturally retrench the little superfluities of garniture and equipage. The blossoms will fall of themselves when the root that nourishes them is destroyed.
Character | Little | Mind | Superfluities | Will |
Thomas Wolfe, fully Thomas Clayton Wolfe
The surest cure for vanity is loneliness.
Character | Loneliness |
If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise.
J. E. Buckrose, pseudonymn of Annie Edith Foster Jameson
Happiness comes more from loving than being loved; and often when our affection seems wounded it is only our vanity bleeding. To love, and to be hurt often, and to love again - this is the brave and happy life.
Most of the troubles of humanity are imaginary and should be laughed out of court. It is folly to cross a bridge until you come to it, or to bid the Devil good-morning until you meet him - perfect folly. All is well until the stroke falls, and even then, nine times out of ten, it is not so bad as anticipated. A wise man is the confirmed optimist.
Devil | Folly | Good | Humanity | Man | Troubles | Wisdom | Wise |
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 1st Baron Burghley, also Lord William Cecil Burleigh
Trust not any man with thy life, credit, or estate. For it is mere folly for a man to enthrall himself to his friend, as though, occasion being offered, he should not dare to become an enemy.
Credit | Enemy | Folly | Friend | Life | Life | Man | Trust | Wisdom |
Cyril Connolly, fully Cyril Vernon Connolly
There is no hate without fear. Hate is crystallized fear, fear's dividend, fear objectivises. We hate what we fear and so where hate is, fear is lurking. Thus we hate what threatens our person, our liberty, our privacy, our income, popularity, vanity and our dreams and plans for ourselves. If we can isolate this element in what we hate we may learn to cease from hating.
Dreams | Fear | Hate | Liberty | Popularity | Wisdom | Learn |