Quotations from Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881
- Experience is the child of Thought, and Thought is the child of Action. We cannot learn men from books.
Vivian Grey [1826], bk. V, ch. 1- Variety is the mother of Enjoyment.
Vivian Grey [1826], bk. V, ch. 4- There is moderation even in excess.
Vivian Grey [1826], bk. VI, ch. 1- I repeat...that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that, from the people, and for the people, all springs, and all must exist.
Vivian Grey [1826], bk. VI, ch. 7- Man is not the creature of circumstances. Circumstances are the creatures of men.
Vivian Grey [1826], bk. VI, ch. 7- Yes, I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the right honorable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon.
Reply to a taunt by Daniel O'Connell- What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.
Henrietta Temple [1837], bk. II, ch. 4- Free trade is not a principle, it is an expedient.
Speech on import duties [April 25, 1843]- Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.
Coningsby [1844], bk. III, ch. 1- Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions.
Coningsby [1844], bk. IV, ch. 13- Little things affect little minds.
Sybil [1845], bk. III, ch. 2- A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy.
Speech on Agricultural Interests [March 17, 1845]- Duty cannot exist without faith.
Tancred [1847], bk. II, ch. 1- Justice is truth in action.
Speech [February 11, 1851]- How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.
Speech [January 24, 1860]- Ignorance never settles a question.
Speech in the House of Commons [May 14, 1866]- Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Speech at Manchester [1866]- You know who the critics are? The men who have failed in literature and art.
Lothair [1870], ch. 35- The secret of success is constancy to purpose.
Speech [June 24, 1872]- A university should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning.
Speech in the House of Commons [March 11, 1873]- The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend.
Speech [July 24, 1877]- Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace -- but a peace I hope with honor.
Speech in the House of Commons [July 16, 1878]
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