About James Anthony Froude

James Anthony Froude was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of Fraser’s Magazine. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clergyman, but doubts about the doctrines of the Anglican church, published in his scandalous 1849 novel The Nemesis of Faith, drove him to abandon his religious career.

More about the author

More quotes from James Anthony Froude

As we advance in life, we learn the limits of our abilities.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Superior strength is found in the long run to lie with those who had right on their side.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Human improvement is from within outward.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Philosophy goes no further than probabilities, and in every assertion keeps a doubt in reserve.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

The secret of a person’s nature lies in their religion and what they really believes about the world and their place in it.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

To deny the freedom of the will is to make morality impossible.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

No person is ever good for much, that hasn’t been swept off their feet by enthusiasm between ages twenty and thirty.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Science rests on reason and experiment, and can meet an opponent with calmness; but a belief is always sensitive.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

The first duty of an historian is to be on guard against his own sympathies.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Fear is the parent of cruelty.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

The endurance of the inequalities of life by the poor is the marvel of human society.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

The better one is morally the less aware they are of their virtue.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Instruction does not prevent wasted time or mistakes; and mistakes themselves are often the best teachers of all.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

The essence of greatness is neglect of the self.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

The practical effect of a belief is the real test of its soundness.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

In everyday things the law of sacrifice takes the form of positive duty.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)

Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes.

James Anthony Froude

English historian, novelist and biographer (1818-1894)