“The society of dead authors has this advantage over that of the living: they never flatter us to our faces, nor slander us behind our backs, nor intrude upon our privacy, nor quit their shelves until we take them down.”

English cleric, writer and collector

Charles Caleb Colton was an English cleric, writer, and collector, known for his eccentric manner and for the sayings that bear his name. His life dates are not given here, but he is placed in the English literary world as a figure remembered more for style and wit than for a large public career. He is described as a collector as well as a writer and clergyman, and his reputation rests on the distinctive, slightly odd character attached to him. The surviving record here gives no further details of his works or life, so he is best known simply as a memorable English author whose words have continued to circulate.