42+ George William Curtis Quotes On Slavery, Education And War

George William Curtis was an American author, editor, and public speaker active in the mid-19th century. He was a member of the New York literary elite, and was a leading figure in the development of the Republican Party. He is best remembered for his 1855 collection of essays The Potiphar Papers, as well as for his work as the editor of Harper's Weekly from 1872 to 1884. Following is our collection on famous quotes by George William Curtis on slavery, education, life.

Top 10 George William Curtis Quotes

1. Every great crisis of human history is a pass of Thermopylae, and there is always a Leonidas and his three hundred to die in it, if they can not conquer.
2. A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
3. A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
4. Life is a rich strain of music, suggesting a realm too fair to be.
5. Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.
6. Romance like a ghost escapes touching; it is always where you are not, not where you are. The interview or conversation was prose at the time, but it is poetry in the memory.
7. Stratagem is the right hand of cunning.
8. Nature makes woman to be won and men to win.
9. Reputation is favorable notoriety as distinguished from fame, which is permanent approval of great deeds and noble thoughts by the best intelligence of mankind.
10. Our great social and political advantage is opportunity.

George William Curtis Short Quotes

• Happiness is speechless.
• Happiness lies first of all in health.
• The world is not made for the prosperous alone, nor for the strong.
• Patriotism is the vital condition of national permanence.
• The test of civilization is its estimate of women.
• Good taste consists first upon fitness.
• While we read history we make history.
• True invective requires great imagination.
• A journal should be neither an echo nor a pander.
• It is not observed in history that families improve with time.

George William Curtis Famous Quotes And Sayings

Anger, even when it punishes the faults of delinquents, ought not to precede reason as its mistress, but attend as a handmaid at the back of reason, to come to the front when bidden. For once it begins to take control of the mind, it calls just what it does cruelly. — George William Curtis

The test of civilization is the estimate of woman. Among savages she is a slave. In the dark ages of Christianity she is a toy and a sentimental goddess. With increasing moral light, and greater liberty, and more universal justice, she begins to develop as an equal human being. — George William Curtis

A tree which has lost its head will never recover it again, and will survive only as a monument of the ignorance and folly of its Tormentor. — George William Curtis

Prussia is great because her people are intelligent. They know the alphabet. The alphabet is conquering the world. — George William Curtis

The sure foundations of the state are laid in knowledge, not in ignorance; and every sneer at education, at culture, at book learning, which is the recorded wisdom of the experience of mankind, is the demagogue's sneer at intelligent liberty, inviting national degeneracy and ruin. — George William Curtis

In the journey of the year, the autumn is Venice, spring is Naples, certainly, and the majestic maturity of summer is Rome. — George William Curtis

It is the most human and kindly of seasons, as fully penetrated and irradiated with the feeling of human brotherhood, which is the essential spirit of Christianity, as the month of June with sunshine and the balmy breath of roses. — George William Curtis

Progress begins with the minority. It is completed by persuading the majority, by showing the reason and the of the step forward, and that is accomplished by appealing to the intelligence of the majority. — George William Curtis

I think that to have known one good, old man-one man, who, through the chances and mischances of a long life, has carried his heart in his hand, like a palm-branch, waving all discords into peace-helps our faith in God, in ourselves, and in each other more than many sermons — George William Curtis

There is very little moral mixture in the 'Antislavery' feeling of this country. A great deal is abstract philanthropy; part is hatred of slaveholders; a great part is jealousy for white labor, very little is consciousness of wrong done and the wish to right it. — George William Curtis

Heroes in history seem to us poetic because they are there. But if we should tell the simple truth of some of our neighbors, it would sound like poetry. — George William Curtis

Books are the ever burning lamps of accumulated wisdom. — George William Curtis

Through all history, from the beginning, a noble army of martyrs have fought fiercely and fallen bravely for that unseen mistress, their country. So, through all history, to the end, as long as men believe in God that army must still march and fall, recruited only from the flower of mankind, cheered only by their own hope of humanity, strong only in the confidence of their cause. — George William Curtis

Books of entertainment first led Adam Clarke to believe in a spiritual world. — George William Curtis

Dreams come true if you survive the hard times! — George William Curtis

Virtue does not truly reward her votary if she leaves him sad and half doubtful whether it would not have been better to serve vice. — George William Curtis

Our common liberty is consecrated by a common sorrow. — George William Curtis

The Pride of ancestry increases in the ratio of distance. — George William Curtis

I walked beside the evening sea And dreamed a dream that could not be; The waves that plunged along the shore Said only: "Dreamer, dream no more!" — George William Curtis

Imagination is as good as many voyages - and how much cheaper. — George William Curtis

A river is the cosiest of friends. You must love it and live with it before you can know it. — George William Curtis

Criticism is not construction, it is observation. — George William Curtis

Life Lessons by George William Curtis

1. George William Curtis taught the importance of staying true to one's values and beliefs, no matter how difficult the circumstances. He also emphasized the importance of using one's talents and abilities to help others and to make the world a better place. Finally, he showed the power of self-improvement and the rewards of hard work and dedication.