Quotes from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

But the fruit that can fall without shaking indeed is too mellow for me.

I prefer liberty to chains of diamonds.

Sometimes I give myself admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it.

Satire should, like a polished razor keen,Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen.

I wish you would moderate that fondness you have for your children. I do not mean you should abate any part of your care, or not do your duty to them in its utmost extent; but I would have you early prepare yourself for disappointments, which are heavy in proportion to their being surprising.

And we meet, with champagne and a chicken, at last.

I believe more follies are committed out of complaisance to the world, than in following our own inclinations.

Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet;In short, my deary, kiss me, and be quiet.

A man that is ashamed of passions that are natural and reasonable is generally proud of those that are shameful and silly.

Nobody can deny but religion is a comfort to the distressed, a cordial to the sick, and sometimes a restraint on the wicked; therefore whoever would argue or laugh it out of the world without giving some equivalent for it ought to be treated as a common enemy.

People commonly educate their children as they build their houses, according to some plan they think beautiful, without considering whether it is suited to the purposes for which they are designed.

Solitude begets whimsies.

To always be loved one must ever be agreeable.

We are educated in the grossest ignorance, and no art omitted to stifle our natural reason; if some few get above their nurses instructions, our knowledge must rest concealed and be as useless to the world as gold in the mine.

Philosophy is the toil which can never tire persons engaged in it. All ways are strewn with roses, and the farther you go, the more enchanting objects appear before you and invite you on.

There is no remedy so easy as books, which if they do not give cheerfulness, at least restore quiet to the most troubled mind.

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting." Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689 - 1762)

Knowing too much is very apt to make us troublesome to other people

The government here is entirely in the hands of the army. The Grand Signor [Ottoman Sultan], with all his absolute power, is as much a slave as any of his subjects, and trembles at a janissary's frown.

The vulgar Turk is very different from what is spoken at court, 'tis as ridiculous to make use of the expressions commonly used in speaking to a great man or lady, as it would be to talk broad Yorkshire or Somershetshire in the drawing room.

But the fruit that can fall without shaking, Indeed is too mellow for me.

Writers of novels and romance in general bring a double loss to their readers; robbing them of their time and money; representing men, manners, and things, that never have been, or are likely to be.

To always be loved one must ever be agreeable.

I know a love may be revived which absence, inconstancy, or even infidelity has extinguished, but there is no returning from a dTgovt given by satiety.