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Sydney Smith Quotes

27 Famous Quotes By Sydney Smith, The Celebrated English Wit

Famous As: Cleric, Journalist

Born On: 1771

Died On: 1845

Born In: Woodford, London, United Kingdom

Died At Age: 73

Sydney Smith was an English writer and an Anglican cleric. He along with his friends founded ‘The Edinburgh Review’ which fascinated the masses by its political and literary criticism. He wrote articles for it and his contribution for the first 25 years is believed to play a significant role in its success. He shifted to London in hunt for better opportunities and soon became famous as a preacher and lecturer. His lectures on philosophy were highly appreciated and gradually attracted a great crowd. He even wrote a series of letters that became instantly famous starting from ‘Letters of Peter Plymley to My Brother Abraham Who Lives in the Country’. He went on to gain fame in Yorkshire by his polemics on the Roman Catholic question. Smith had also experienced the grief of losing his eldest son but was appreciated for not reflecting it in his writings. Following are a few notable quotes and sayings by the renowned writer which have been extracted from his writings, books, letters, work and thoughts. Read on the collection of quotations and thoughts by Sydney Smith.

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No furniture is so charming as books.
Books
Sydney Smith

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea! How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea! How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
God I
Sydney Smith

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.
Sydney Smith

If you want to improve your understanding, drink coffee.

If you want to improve your understanding, drink coffee.
You
Sydney Smith

Madam, I have been looking for a person who disliked gravy all my life; let us swear eternal friendship.

Madam, I have been looking for a person who disliked gravy all my life; let us swear eternal friendship.
I
Sydney Smith

We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today

We know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today
Business
Sydney Smith

The fact is that in order to do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.

The fact is that in order to do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
Sydney Smith

When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one for a fellow creature.

When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one for a fellow creature.
You
Sydney Smith

People who love only once in their lives are shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom, or their lack of imagination
Love I
Sydney Smith

A man who wishes to make his way in life could do no better than go through the world with a boiling tea-kettle in his hand.

A man who wishes to make his way in life could do no better than go through the world with a boiling tea-kettle in his hand.
Life
Sydney Smith

If I were to begin life again, I would devote it to music. It is the only cheap and unpunished rapture upon earth.

If I were to begin life again, I would devote it to music. It is the only cheap and unpunished rapture upon earth.
Life Music I
Sydney Smith

I always fear that creation will expire before teatime.

I always fear that creation will expire before teatime.
Will Fear I
Sydney Smith

Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence.

Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence.
Life Love Happiness
Sydney Smith

No furniture is so charming as books, even if you never open them or read a single word.

No furniture is so charming as books, even if you never open them or read a single word.
You Never Books
Sydney Smith

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.
Sydney Smith

Take short views,
Hope for the best,
and Trust in God.

Take short views, Hope for the best, and Trust in God.
God
Sydney Smith

Live always in the best company when you read.

Live always in the best company when you read.
You
Sydney Smith

Mankind are always happy for having happiness. So if you make them happy now, you make them happy twenty years from now by the memory of it.

Mankind are always happy for having happiness. So if you make them happy now, you make them happy twenty years from now by the memory of it.
You Happiness
Sydney Smith

Many in this world run after felicity like an absent man hunting for his hat, while all the time it is on his head or in his hand.

Many in this world run after felicity like an absent man hunting for his hat, while all the time it is on his head or in his hand.
Time Like
Sydney Smith

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage
Sydney Smith

Human beings cling to their delicious tyrannies and to their exquisite nonsense, till death stares them in the face.

Human beings cling to their delicious tyrannies and to their exquisite nonsense, till death stares them in the face.
Death
Sydney Smith

I never read a book before reviewing it; it prejudices a man so.

I never read a book before reviewing it; it prejudices a man so.
Never I
Sydney Smith

What you don’t know would make a great book.

What you don’t know would make a great book.
You
Sydney Smith

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little; do something.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little; do something.
You
Sydney Smith

Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed.

Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed.
You Nature Never Will
Sydney Smith

Do not try to push your way through to the front ranks of your profession; do not run after distinctions and rewards; but do your utmost to find an entry into the world of beauty.

Do not try to push your way through to the front ranks of your profession; do not run after distinctions and rewards; but do your utmost to find an entry into the world of beauty.
Sydney Smith