Henri Frederic Amiel's Quotes

If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.

It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

Order is a great person's need and their true well being.

Order is power.

Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion.

Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.

So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being.

Society lives by faith, and develops by science.

The only substance properly so called is the soul.

To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius.

To marry unequally is to suffer equally.

Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.

It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.

Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults, a gigantic scaffolding whose object is to hide from us our favorite sin.

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest; we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction and vary the song.

Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel.

The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings.

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.

Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven.

Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.

Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.

Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false.

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.

Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.

Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.

Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy.

Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius.

Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.

Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness.

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty.

Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt.

Common sense is calculation applied to life.

Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; it is calculation applied to life.

If we knew the meaning to everything that is happening to us, then there would be no meaning.

In any country there must be people who have to die. They are the sacrifices any nation has to make to achieve law and order.

You cannot run faster than a bullet.

Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking.

I am the hero of Africa.