A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's.
Richard Whately

A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them fortune.
Richard Whately

All men wish to have truth on their side; but few to be on the side of truth.
Richard Whately

As one may bring himself to believe almost anything he is inclined to believe, it makes all the difference whether we begin or end with the inquiry, 'What is truth?'
Richard Whately

Curiosity is as much the parent of attention, as attention is of memory.
Richard Whately

Everyone wishes to have truth on his side, but not everyone wishes to be on the side of truth.
Richard Whately

Happiness is no laughing matter.
Richard Whately

He only is exempt from failures who makes no efforts.
Richard Whately

Honesty is the best policy; but he who is governed by that maxim is not an honest man.
Richard Whately

In our judgment of human transactions, the law of optics is reversed; we see the most indistinctly the objects which are close around us.
Richard Whately


It is folly to expect men to do all that they may reasonably be expected to do.
Richard Whately

It is generally true that all that is required to make men unmindful of what they owe God for any blessing is that they should receive that blessing often and regularly.
Richard Whately

It is the neglect of timely repair that makes rebuilding necessary.
Richard Whately

Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.
Richard Whately

Manners are one of the greatest engines of influence ever given to man.
Richard Whately

Men are like sheep, of which a flock is more easily driven than a single one.
Richard Whately

Preach not because you have to say something, but because you have something to say.
Richard Whately

The happiest lot for a man, as far as birth is concerned, is that it should be such as to give him but little occasion to think much about it.
Richard Whately

There is a soul of truth in error; there is a soul of good in evil.
Richard Whately

To be always thinking about your manners is not the way to make them good; the very perfection of manners is not to think about yourself.
Richard Whately