"Great men are true men, the men in whom nature has succeeded. They are not extraordinary - they are in the true order. It is the other species of men who are not what they ought to be."

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More quotes from: Henri Frederic Amiel

• "A man must be able to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied; he ..."
• "Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced ..."
• "Action is coarsened thought; thought becomes concrete, obscure, and unconscious. "
• "An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it ..."
• "Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more. "
• "Charm is the quality in others, that makes us more satisfied with ourselves. "
• "Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness. "
• "Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing. "
• "Common sense is calculation applied to life. "
• "Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; ..."
• "Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a ..."
• "Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling ..."
• "Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is ..."
• "Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence. "
• "Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? ..."
• "For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy ..."
• "He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less ..."
• "I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as ..."
• "If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion. "
• "In every loving woman there is a priestess of the past - a pious guardian ..."
• "It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming ..."
• "It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth ..."
• "Learn to limit yourself; to content yourself with some definite work; dare to be what ..."

• "Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all ..."
• "Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole ..."
• "Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of ..."
• "Life is short. Be swift to love! Make haste to be kind! "
• "Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart. "
• "Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false. "
• "Mutual respect implies discretion and reserve even in love itself; it means preserving as much ..."
• "Order is a great person's need and their true well being. "
• "Order is power. "
• "Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our ..."
• "Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults -a gigantic ..."
• "Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion. "
• "Sacrifice still exists everywhere, and everywhere the elect of each generation suffers for the salvation ..."
• "Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies. "
• "Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man ..."
• "So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being. "
• "Society lives by faith, and develops by science. "
• "Sympathy is the first condition of criticism. "
• "Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and ..."
• "Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist ..."
• "The actors today really need the whip hand. They're so lazy. They haven't got the ..."
• "The best path through life is the highway. "

• "The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes. "
• "The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. "
• "The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept ..."
• "The only substance properly so called is the soul. "
• "There is no respect for others without humility in one's self. "
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• "To depersonalize man is the dominant drift of our times. "
• "To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do ..."
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• "To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy. "
• "To marry unequally is to suffer equally. "
• "To shun one's cross is to make it heavier. "
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• "Uncertainty is the refuge of hope. "
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• "We only understand that which already within us. "
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• "Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, uncertain, and disputed voice, it is not the voice ..."
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• "Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are ..."
• "Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been ..."