The Post Office Girl (published posthumously in 1982)
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Political Thoughts and Reflections
Part 1, Section 4
A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), Book 2: Of the passions
“The malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous.”
“Malice delights to blacken the characters of prominent men.”
Memoirs of Napoleon (1829-1831)
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Often known as Hanlon's razor, this was attributed to Napoleon without source in Message Passing Server Internals (2003) by Bill Blunden, p. 15, ISBN 0071416382
Misattributed
“As for the brandy, "nothing extenuate;" and the water, put nought in it malice.”
Shakespeare Grog, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
“Malice is of a low Stature, but it hath very long Arms.”
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Political Thoughts and Reflections
“This is the stuff we're made of, half indifference and half malice.”
Source: Blindness (1995), p. 32
