William Cobbett Quotes

A collection of quotes by William Cobbett.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was an English political writer and farmer. Born in Surrey, he began his career as a journalist, eventually becoming a prominent figure in the early 19th-century political scene. Cobbett's influential writings often criticized the government and advocated for the rights of the working class. He was known for his passionate and controversial style, which earned him both praise and criticism. In addition to his political activism, Cobbett was also an accomplished farmer and published several works on agricultural practices. His contributions to journalism and political discourse continue to be recognized today.

Women are a sisterhood. They make common cause in behalf of

Women are a sisterhood. They make common cause in behalf of the sex and, indeed, this is natural enough, when we consider the vast power that the law gives us over them.

William Cobbett

Perhaps there are none more lazy, or more truly ignorant, th

Perhaps there are none more lazy, or more truly ignorant, than your everlasting readers.

William Cobbett

Reading

Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor

Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor in the country as an extended system of taxation and a great national debt.

William Cobbett

Taxation

Another great evil arising from this desire to be thought ri

Another great evil arising from this desire to be thought rich; or rather, from the desire not to be thought poor, is the destructive thing which has been honored by the name of speculation; but which ought to be called Gambling.

William Cobbett

Assumptions

Women are a sisterhood. They make common cause in behalf of

Women are a sisterhood. They make common cause in behalf of the sex; and, indeed, this is natural enough, when we consider the vast power that the law gives us over them.

William Cobbett

Women

It is by attempting to reach the top in a single leap that s

It is by attempting to reach the top in a single leap that so much misery is produced in the world.

William Cobbett

Patience

It is no small mischief to a boy, that many of the best year

It is no small mischief to a boy, that many of the best years of his life should be devoted to the learning of what can never be of any real use to any human being. His mind is necessarily rendered frivolous and superficial by the long habit of attaching importance to words instead of things; to sound instead of sense.

William Cobbett

Education

To suppose such a thing possible as a society, in which men,

To suppose such a thing possible as a society, in which men, who are able and willing to work, cannot support their families, and ought, with a great part of the women, to be compelled to lead a life of celibacy, for fear of having children to be starved; to suppose such a thing possible is monstrous.

William Cobbett

Poverty

Happiness, or misery, is in the mind. It is the mind that li

Happiness, or misery, is in the mind. It is the mind that lives.

William Cobbett

Happiness

It is not the greatness of a man's means that makes him inde

It is not the greatness of a man's means that makes him independent, so much as the smallness of his wants.

William Cobbett

Desires

The very hirelings of the press, whose trade it is to buoy u

The very hirelings of the press, whose trade it is to buoy up the spirits of the people. have uttered falsehoods so long, they have played off so many tricks, that their budget seems, at last, to be quite empty.

William Cobbett

Media

Never esteem men on account of their riches or their station

Never esteem men on account of their riches or their station. Respect goodness, find it where you may.

William Cobbett

Respect