William Hazlitt Quotes

We must always think about things, and we must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be.

A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half.

I think I have a very detailed sense of observation. I am interested in the details of people's lives and what information these details give.

Judgment is more than skill. It sets forth on intellectual seas beyond the shores of hard indisputable factual information.

The first point of wisdom is to discern that which is false; the second, to know that which is true.

Seeing reality for what it is is what we call discernment. The work of discernment is very hard.

Knowledge is two-fold, and consists not only in an affirmation of what is true, but in the negation of that which is false.

You can't just trust to luck; you have to really listen to what that character is telling you.

When we examine the opinions of men, we find that nothing is more uncommon than common sense; or, in other words, they lack judgment to discover plain truths or to reject absurdities and palpable contradictions.

If you would judge, understand.

Judgment is contained in the act of trying to understand.

A hair divides what is false and true.

A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.

It's very hard to know what wisdom is.

Where the senses fail us, reason must step in.

We can be knowledgable with other men's knowledge but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom.

Some people have more sense than other people think they have.

Spies are great, and when you need 'em, you need 'em. But they are no substitute for insight.

Ability to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false, is the characteristic of intelligence.

Just because you like something, that doesn't mean that you have a feel for it.

Intellect takes you to the door, but it doesn't take you into the house.

The power to guess the unseen from the seen, to trace the implications of things, to judge the whole piece by the pattern . . . this cluster of gifts may almost be said to constitute experience.

It is difficult to say what truth is, but sometimes it is so easy to recognize a falsehood.

Knowledge is like fire 'cause it breaks down things so you can see what they truly are. It's like how a fire breaks your body down to carbon.

The way to eliminate ignorance is through steady, focused discrimination between the observer and the world.