“You think me ambitious: ambition, alas! is composed of more rugged materials. If I were ambitious, I should not for so many years have been a prey to all the hell of conscientious scruples.”

— Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764), Section 3

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.”

“The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations.”

“The long, dull monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather.”

“My hair is grey, but not with years, nor grew it white in a single night, as men's have grown from sudden fears.”

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.”

“It takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.”

“Would Time but await the close of our favorite follies, we should all be young men, all of us, and until Doom's Day.”