Great Throughts Treasury

"The mind of men is a mystery; and, like the plant, each one of us naturally appropriates and assimilates that about him which responds to that which is within him."

"When orators and auditors have the same prejudices, those prejudices run a great risk of being made to stand for incontestable truths."

"“Time restores all things.” Wrong! Time restores many things, but eternity restores all."

"A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool."

"Education properly understood, is that which teaches discernment."

"Great dejection often follows great enthusiasm."

"It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent."

"Say nothing good of yourself, you will be distrusted; say nothing bad of yourself, you will be taken at your word."

"Present unhappiness is selfish; past sorrow is compassionate."

"Since unhappiness excites interest, many, in order to render themselves interesting, feign unhappiness."

"The city does not take away, neither does the country give, solitude; solitude is within us."

"The habit of prayer communicates a penetrating sweetness to the glance, the voice, the smile, the tears, to all one says, or does or writes."

"Science is for those who learn; poetry for those who know."

"What is slander? A verdict of “guilty” pronounced in the absence of the accused, with closed doors, without defense or appeal, by an interested and prejudiced judge."

"In the presence of God we speak too much; we do not listen enough."

"Solitude vivifies; isolation kills."

"Two sorts of writers possess genius; those who think and those who cause others to think."

"Our experience is composed rather of illusions lost than of wisdom acquired."

"We distrust our heart too much, and our head not enough."

"The chief cause of our misery is less the violence of our passions than the feebleness of our virtues."

"Poetry is the exquisite expression of exquisite expressions.z1b8h9yiWf"

"Reason guides but a small part of man, and the rest obeys feeling, true or false, and passion, good or bad."

"The happiness which is lacking makes one think even the happiness one has unbearable."

"We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence."

"There are people who laugh to show their fine teeth; and there are those who cry to show their good hearts."

"What is love? two souls and one flesh; friendship? two bodies and one soul."

"Evil often triumphs, but never conquers."

"The folly which we might have ourselves committed is the one which we are least ready to pardon in another."

"There is a slowness in affairs which ripens them, and a slowness which rots them."

"God often visits us, but most of the time we are not at home."

"When unhappy, one doubts everything; when happy, one doubts nothing."

"We love justice greatly, and just men but little."

"Have friends, not for the sake of receiving, but of giving."

"Success causes us to be more praised than known."

"Nothing vivifies, and nothing kills, like the emotions."

"God is a shower to the heart burned up with grief; God is a sun to the face deluged with tears."

"In youth one has tears without grief; in age, griefs without tears."