Book I, Chapter 1
The History of Tom Jones (1749)
“Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well timed.”
La libéralité consiste moins à donner beaucoup qu'à donner à propos.
Aphorism 47; Variant translation: Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.
Les Caractères (1688), Du Coeur
Attributed to Watson in: William G. Dickerson (1995) In search of the ultimate practice. p. 19.
“She's all dressed up like a well-kept grave.”
In reference to Jan Duggan's character in The Old Fashioned Way (1934)
“As it is far better to excel in any single art, than to arrive only at a mediocrity in several; so on the other hand, a moderate skill in several is to be preferred, where one cannot attain to excellency in any.”
Ut satius unum aliquid insigniter facere quam plura mediocriter, ita plurima mediocriter, si non possis unum aliquid insigniter.
Letter 29, 1.
Letters, Book IX
No. 94 (18 June 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/hotdogsladies/status/81389251425615872
Tweeting as @hotdogsladies
As quoted in "Q+A: William H. Macy Finds God" by Simon Abrams, in Esquire online (27 January 2012) http://www.esquire.com/the-side/qa/sundance-2012/william-h-macy-sundance-interview-6647129
“There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.”
As quoted in The Cynic's Breviary : Maxims and Anecdotes from Nicolas de Chamfort (1902) as translated by William G. Hutchison, p. 37
“There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.”
Sometimes attributed to Ackerman this actually originates with Nicolas Chamfort, as quoted in The Cynic's Breviary : Maxims and Anecdotes from Nicolas de Chamfort (1902) as translated by William G. Hutchison, p. 37
Misattributed
Source: "Not So Bored in the House" https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/07/not-so-bored-in-the-house-with-tiktok, Vanity Fair (20 July 2020).
