Elizabeth Montagu

“Wit is the most dangerous talent we can possess. It must be guarded with great discretion and good-nature, otherwise it will create many enemies.”

“He is the writer who, of all others, has best delineated the human mind.”

“Learning is a treasure, and we should prize it above all other riches.”

“The days of courtship are the holidays of life.”

“To be able to procure its own entertainments is the great characteristic of a rational creature.”

“I am always of the opinion with the learned, if they speak first.”

“Of all the passions, jealousy is that which exacts the hardest service, and pays the bitterest wages.”

“Humility is the truest proof of Christian virtues; without it we are nothing, with it, all other graces will follow.”

“The love of fame is a passion of which the bare acknowledgment is a disgrace, but with which the heart of man is so deeply tinctured, that it is hard to get it all out.”

“We women are not for great and heroic achievements; they are suitable to the robust and daring temper of man.”

“I confess, for my own part, I had rather be a milk-maid, and live in a cottage, than a duchess with a moderate understanding.”