This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
He who exhibits no faults is a fool or a hypocrite whom we should distrust.
Distrust |
Cicero, fully Marcus Tullius Cicero, anglicized as Tully NULL
It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others and to forget his own.
Cicero, fully Marcus Tullius Cicero, anglicized as Tully NULL
Each part of life has its own pleasures. Each has its own abundant harvest, to be garnered in season. We may grow old in body, but we need never grow old in mind and spirit. We must make a stand against old age. We must atone for its faults by activity. We must exercise the mind as we exercise the body, to keep it supple and buoyant. Life may be short, but it is long enough to live honorably and well. Old age is the consummation of life, rich in blessings.
Age | Blessings | Body | Enough | Life | Life | Mind | Need | Old age | Spirit | Old |
There are some faults so nearly allied to excellence that we can scarce weed out the vice without eradicating the virtue.
Excellence | Virtue | Virtue | Excellence | Vice |
Oscar Wilde, pen name for Fingal O'Flahertie Wills
Misfortunes one can endure – they come from outside, they are accidents. But to suffer for one’s faults – ah! – there is the sting of life.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
The fool imputes his faults to others, the wise man confesses his, the righteous avoids either.
Endeavor to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of others; for thou has many faults and imperfections of thine own that require forbearance. If thou art not able to make thyself that which thou wishest, how canst thou expect to mold another in conformity to thy will?
Art | Conformity | Forbearance | Will | Art |
Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.
Man | Repentance |
Voltaire, pen name of François-Marie Arouet NULL
Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same.
Love |
Hiding your faults from others so they won’t correct you might save you from momentary unpleasantness, but you will remain with your faults... Fear of criticism stems from inferiority feelings... If you feel hurt by someone’s criticism, remember it is your choice to feel hurt. You can choose self-statements that allow you to feel grateful for the opportunity to improve yourself.
Choice | Criticism | Fear | Feelings | Inferiority | Opportunity | Self | Will |
Ted Kennedy, fully Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy
I recognize my own shortcomings — the faults in the conduct of my private life. I realize that I alone am responsible for them, and I am the one who must confront them. I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too.
The evil are ever prone to detect the faults of others, though they be as small as mustard seeds, and persistently shut their eyes against their own, though they be as large as Vilva fruit.
Evil |
Gilbert Keith "G.K." Chesteron
When we reverence anything in the mature, it is their virtues or their wisdom, and this is an easy matter. But we reverence the faults and follies of children. We should probably come considerably nearer to the true conception of things if we treated all grown-up persons, of all titles and types, with precisely that dark affection and dazed respect with which we treat the infantile limitations.
Han Fei, also Han Fei Zi, Han Feitzu and Han Fei Tzu
The law does not fawn on the noble; the string does not yield to the crooked. Whatever the law applies to, the wise cannot reject nor can the brave defy. Punishment for fault never skips ministers, reward for good never misses commoners. Therefore, to correct the faults of the high, to rebuke the vices of the low, to suppress disorders, to decide against mistakes, to subdue the arrogant, to straighten the crooked, and to unify the folkways of the masses, nothing could match the law. To warn the officials and overawe the people, to rebuke obscenity and danger, and to forbid falsehood and deceit, nothing could match penalty. If penalty is severe, the noble cannot discriminate against the humble. If law is definite, the superiors are esteemed and not violated. If the superiors are not violated, the sovereign will become strong and able to maintain the proper course of government. Such was the reason why the early kings esteemed legalism and handed it down to posterity. Should the lord of men discard law and practice selfishness, high and low would have no distinction. Hence to govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong.
Blame | Falsehood | Fault | Good | Law | Lord | Men | Nothing | Practice | Praise | Punishment | Reason | Rebuke | Reward | Right | Will | Wise | Fault | Govern |
Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL
Many of the faults you see in others, dear reader,are your own nature reflected in them.
Nature |
Everyone has his faults which he continually repeats: neither fear nor shame can cure them.