The Way We Live Now

by Anthony Trollope

How many very bad things are there that we do! But if we were to attempt to reform all our bad ways at once, we should never do any good thing. I am not strong enough to put the world straight, and I doubt if you are."

This was effected with an air of wonderful omniscience, and not unfrequently with an ignorance hardly surpassed by its arrogance.

But the writing was clever. The facts, if not true, were well invented; the arguments, if not logical, were seductive. The presiding spirit of the paper had the gift, at any rate, of knowing what the people for whom he catered would like to read, and how to get his subjects handled, so that the reading should be pleasant.

The one most essential obstacle to the chance of success in all this was probably Lady Carbury's conviction that her end was to be obtained not by producing good books, but by inducing certain people to say that her books were good.

He had in this the instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog.

When a fellow is stupid himself, he ought to have a sharp fellow to look after his business."

It is said that if you were to take a man of moderate parts and make him Prime Minister out of hand, he might probably do as well as other Prime Ministers, the greatness of the work elevating the man to its own level.

"All men are honest; but they are generally specially honest to their own side.

The carrying an external look of indifference when the heart is sinking within,—or has sunk almost to the very ground,—is more than difficult; it is an agonizing task.

The loss of fifty pounds or of a few hundreds may create personal wrath;—but fifty thousand require equanimity.

To a man not accustomed to thinking there is nothing in the world so difficult as to think.