Quote

I do not deny the rights of democracy, but I have no illusions as to the uses that will be made of those rights so long as wisdom is rare and pride abundant

Henri Frederic Amiel

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Henri Frederic Amiel
Age: 59 †
Born: 1821
Born: September 27
Died: 1881
Died: May 11
Diarist
Literary Critic
Philosopher
Poet
Translator
University Teacher
Writer
Genève
Henri-Frederic Amiel
Henri Frédéric Amiel
Made
Rare
Long
Deny
Illusion
Pride
Democracy
Wisdom
Abundant
Rights
Illusions
Use
Uses

More quotes by Henri Frederic Amiel

Image
Truth is not only violated by falsehood it may be equally outraged by silence.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
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.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
To be always ready a man must be able to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Knowledge, love, power-there is the complete life.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Woman is the salvation or the destruction of the family. She carries its destiny in the folds of her mantle.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Man never knows what he wants he aspires to penetrate mysteries and as soon as he has, wants to re-establish them. Ignorance irritates him and knowledge cloys.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Life is an apprenticeship to the constant renunciations, to the steady failure of our claims, our hopes, our powers, our liberty.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
To be misunderstood even by those whom one loves is the cross and bitterness of life. It is the secret of that sad and melancholy smile on the lips of great men which so few understand.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Love is like swallowing hot chocolate before it has cooled off. It takes you by surprise at first, but keeps you warm for a long time.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
When everything is in its right place within us, we ourselves are in balance with the whole work of God.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
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.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Every situation is an equilibrium of forces every life is a struggle between opposing forces working within the limits of a certain equilibrium
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Sympathy is the first condition of criticism.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
We only understand that which already is within us.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
What we call little things are merely the causes of great things.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
The great majority of men are but tangled skeins, imperfect keyboards, so many specimens of restless or stagnant chaos--and what makes their situation almost hopeless is the fact that they take pleasure in it. There is no curing a sick man who believes himself in health.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
A musical theme once exhausted, finds its due refuge and repose in silence.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
The laws of animality govern almost the whole of history.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Image
Man is a passion which brings a will into play, which works an intelligence.
Henri Frederic Amiel