“Though I admire republican principles in theory, yet I am afraid the practice may be too perfect for human nature.”

— Horace Walpole, Walpoliana, 'Republics', p. 116

About Horace Walpole

1717 – 1797

English writer and politician, author of "The Castle of Otranto" and a prolific correspondent.

“The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.”

“It always amazes me, when I reflect on the women, who are the first to propagate scandal of one another.”

“It appears to me as odd to write to you of St. Peter's, as it would do to you to write of Westminster-abbey.”

“Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.”

“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.”

“It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the publick to be the most anxious for its welfare.”

“The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.”

“I doubt if a charging elephant, or a rhino, is as determined, or hard to check, as a socially ambitious mother.”

“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.”