Each must act as he thinks best; and if he is wrong, so much the worse for him. We stand on a mountain pass in the midst of whirling snow and blindin…

- James Fitzjames Stephen

Thus hope, aided by imagination, makes one man a hero, another a somnambulist, and a third a lunatic; while it renders them all enthusiasts.

- James Fitzjames Stephen

Parliamentary government is simply a mild and disguised form of compulsion. We agree to try strength by counting heads instead of breaking heads, but…

- James Fitzjames Stephen

A liberal conservative is a man who thinks things ought to progress but would rather they remained as they are.

- James Fitzjames Stephen

The things which cannot be adequately represented by words are more important than those which can.

- James Fitzjames Stephen

To try to make men equal by altering social arrangements is like trying to make the cards of equal value by shuffling the pack.

- James Fitzjames Stephen

A well-judging man will open his trunk-line of study in such a direction that, while habitually adhering to it, he may enjoy a ready access to such o…

- James Fitzjames Stephen

Power and courtly influence form an intoxicating draught even when raised to the lips of an ascetic and a saint.

- James Fitzjames Stephen

To try to regulate the internal affairs of a family, the relations of love or friendship, or many other things of the same sort, by law or by the coe…

- James Fitzjames Stephen