# On Will-Making explained — Table-Talk

> Chapter companion for Table-Talk by William Hazlitt.

## What happens

Hazlitt explores the psychology and absurdities of will-making, examining how testators use their final dispositions to exert control, indulge caprices, punish slights, and project their egos beyond death. He discusses legacy-hunters, the disinheriting of relations for trivial offenses, posthumous avarice, and the strange case of a habitual liar who bequeathed imaginary wealth. The chapter reflects on how wills often reveal the testator's character—their weaknesses, whims, and prejudices—rather than rational generosity.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Psychology of Habit and Novelty

Hazlitt examines how testators act out of habit, whim, and caprice rather than reason, even in the face of death.

### Fame, Reputation, and Public Opinion

The desire for posthumous fame and control over one's legacy is a central theme, as seen in conditional bequests and name changes.

### Social Class and Pretension

Hazlitt critiques the pretensions of legacy-hunters and the social dynamics of flattery and expectation in inheritance.

## Character check-ins

### William Hazlitt

Author and narrator; reflects on the motives and follies behind will-making.

## Key lines

> The art of will-making chiefly consists in baffling the importunity of expectation.

The main skill in writing a will is disappointing those who expect to inherit.

_Hazlitt's central thesis on the perverse psychology of testators._

> It is not the errors of others, but our own miscalculations, on which we wreak our lasting vengeance. It is ourselves that we cannot forgive.

We punish others in our wills not for their faults but for our own mistakes, because we cannot forgive ourselves.

_Insight into the self-centered nature of disinheritance._

> We thus make a caprice immortal, a peculiarity proverbial.

Through wills, we turn a passing whim into something permanent and famous.

_Hazlitt's observation on how testators enshrine their eccentricities._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-on-will-making
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/table_talk_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/table_talk_se/chapters