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The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.
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Letter to Anne, Countess of Ossory, (1776-08-16)
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I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel — a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept.
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Letter to Sir Horace Mann (1769-12-31)
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A favourite saying of Walpole's, often repeated in his letters, this might be derived from a similar statement attributed to Jean de La Bruy?re, though unsourced: "Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think".

 

Horace Walpole

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