(1775-1817) English Novelist

I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them.


I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.


In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels.


It was, perhaps, one of those cases in which advice is good or bad only as the event decides.


Nobody can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied.


One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.


There is safety in reserve, but no attraction. One cannot love a reserved person.


Where an opinion is general, it is usually correct.


Where so many hours have been spent in convincing myself that I am right, is there not some reason to fear I may be wrong?


Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation.


You have delighted us long enough.