Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
A hobby is the result of a distorted view of things. It is putting a planet in the place of a sun.
If we are disappointed that men give little heed to what we utter is it for their sake or our own?
We are made ridiculous less by our defects than by the affectation of qualities which are not ours.
It is difficult to be sure of our friends, but it is possible to be certain of our loyalty to them.
Be suspicious of your sincerity when you are the advocate of that upon which your livelihood depends.
If thou need money, get it in an honest way by keeping books, if thou wilt, but not by writing books.
There are faults which show heart and win hearts, while the virtue in which there is no love, repels.
A gentleman does not appear to know more or to be more than those with whom he is thrown into company.
Women are aristocrats, and it is always the mother who makes us feel that we belong to the better sort.
We may outgrow the things of children, without acquiring sense and relish for those which become a man.
Exercise of body and exercise of mind are supplementary, and both may be made recreative and educative.
Language should be pure, noble and graceful, as the body should be so: for both are vestures of the Soul.
If there are but few who interest thee, why shouldst thou be disappointed if but few find thee interesting?
In the world of thought a man's rank is determined, not by his average work, but by his highest achievement.
As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape.
If our opinions rest upon solid ground, those who attack them do not make us angry, but themselves ridiculous.
The teacher does best, not when he explains, but when he impels his pupils to seek themselves the explanation.
Say not thou lackest talent. What talent had any of the greatest, but passionate faith in the efficacy of work?
If we fail to interest, whether because we are dull and heavy, or because our hearers are so, we teach in vain.
As our power over others increases, we become less free; for to retain it, we must make ourselves its servants.
It is a common error to imagine that to be stirring and voluble in a worthy cause is to be good and to do good.
The exercise of authority is odious, and they who know how to govern, leave it in abeyance as much as possible.
If ancient descent could confer nobility, the lower forms of life would possess it in a greater degree than man.
Those subjects have the greatest educational value, which are richest in incentives to the noblest self-activity.
In giving us dominion over the animal kingdom God has signified His will that we subdue the beast within ourselves.
There are who mistake the spirit of pugnacity for the spirit of piety, and thus harbor a devil instead of an angel.
The power of free will is developed and confirmed by increasing the number of worthy motives which influence conduct.
The writers who accomplish most are those who compel thought on the highest and most profoundly interesting subjects.
When we have not the strength or the courage to grasp a new truth, we persuade ourselves that it is not a truth at all.
The common prejudice against philosophy is the result of the incapacity of the multitude to deal with the highest problems.
If thou wouldst be interesting, keep thy personality in the background, and be great and strong in and through thy subject.
Though what we accept be true, it is a prejudice unless we ourselves have considered and understood why and how it is true.
As the visit of one we love makes the whole day pleasant, so is it illumined and made fair by a brave and beautiful thought.
The ploughman knows how many acres he shall upturn from dawn to sunset: but the thinker knows not what a day may bring forth.
As we can not love what is hateful, let us accustom ourselves neither to think nor to speak of disagreeable things and persons.
Inferior thinking and writing will make a name for a man among inferior people, who in all ages and countries, are the majority.
There is some lack either of sense or of character in one who becomes involved in difficulties with the worthless or the vicious.
To think profoundly, to seek and speak truth, to love justice and denounce wrong is to draw upon one's self the ill will of many.
The aim of education is to strengthen and multiply the powers and activities of the mind rather than to increase its possessions.
Culture makes the whole world our dwelling place; our palace in which we take our ease and find ourselves at one with all things.
Education would be a divine thing, if it did nothing more than help us to think and love great thoughts instead of little thoughts.
Those who believe in our ability do more than stimulate us. They create for us an atmosphere in which it becomes easier to succeed.
Unless we consent to lack the common things which men call success, we shall hardly become heroes or saints, philosophers or poets.
What we enjoy, not what we possess, is ours, and in labouring for the possession of many things, we lose the power to enjoy the best.
The first requisite of a gentleman is to be true, brave and noble, and to be therefore a rebuke and scandal to venal and vulgar souls.
Passion is begotten of passion, and it easily happens, as with the children of great men, that the base is the offspring of the noble.
Thy money, thy office, thy reputation are nothing; put away these phantom clothings, and stand like an athlete stripped for the battle.
Liberty is more precious than money or office; and we should be vigilant lest we purchase wealth or place at the price of inner freedom.
Leave each one his touch of folly; it helps to lighten life's burden which, if he could see himself as he is, might be too heavy to carry.
When we have attained success, we see how inferior it is to the hope, yearning and enthusiasm with which we started forth in life's morning.