Charles Brockden Brown Quotes

“Why should you waste your time in idleness, and torment yourself with unprofitable wishes? Books are at hand; books from which most sciences and languages can be learned. Read, analyse, digest; collect facts, and investigate theories: ascertain the dictates of reason, and supply yourself with the inclination and the power to adhere to them.”
― Charles Brockden Brown, Carwin the Biloquist and Other American Tales and Pieces; Volume III

“To know a man's favourite or most constant studies cannot fail of letting in some little light upon his secret thoughts.”
― Charles Brockden Brown, Carwin the Biloquist and Other American Tales and Pieces; Volume III

“We become fondly attached to objects and pursuits, frequently for no conceivable reason but the pain and trouble they cost us. In proportion to the danger in which they involve us do we cherish them. Our darling potion is the poison that scorches our vitals.”
― Charles Brockden Brown, Carwin the Biloquist and Other American Tales and Pieces; Volume III

“The strength of a belief, when it is destitute of any rational foundation, seems, of itself, to furnish a new ground for credulity. We first admit a powerful persuasion, and then, from reflecting on the insufficiency of the ground on which it is built, instead of being prompted to dismiss it, we become more forcibly attached to it.”
― Charles Brockden Brown