Quote

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

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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
Smile
Secret
Misunderstood
Understand
Bitterness
Great
Melancholy
Even
Cross
Men
Crosses
Life
Lips
Loves

More quotes by Henri Frederic Amiel

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We are always making God our accomplice, that so we may legalize our own iniquities. Every successful massacre is consecrated by a Te Deum, and the clergy have never been wanting in benedictions for any victorious enormity.
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When everything is in its right place within us, we ourselves are in balance with the whole work of God.
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There is only one way of not hating those who do us wrong, and that is by doing them good.
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For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will.
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The only substance properly so called is the soul.
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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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Every man is a priest, even involuntarily his conduct is an unspoken sermon, which is forever preaching to others.
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I am a spectator, so to speak, of the molecular whirlwind which men call individual life I am conscious of an incessant metamorphosis, an irresistible movement of existence, which is going on within me - and this phenomenology of myself serves as a window opened upon the mystery of the world.
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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.
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Society lives by faith, and develops by science.
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To depersonalize man is the dominant drift of our times.
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A musical theme once exhausted, finds its due refuge and repose in silence.
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Life is an apprenticeship to the constant renunciations, to the steady failure of our claims, our hopes, our powers, our liberty.
Henri Frederic Amiel
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Mutual respect implies discretion and reserve even in love itself it means preserving as much liberty as possible to those whose life we share. We must distrust our instinct of intervention, for the desire to make one's own will prevail is often disguised under the mask of solicitude.
Henri Frederic Amiel
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The immense majority of our species are candidates for humanity, and nothing more.
Henri Frederic Amiel
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The best path through life is the highway.
Henri Frederic Amiel
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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.
Henri Frederic Amiel
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Hope is only the love of life.
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Charm is the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.
Henri Frederic Amiel
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Criticism is above all a gift, an intuition, a matter of tact and flair it cannot be taught or demonstrated--it is an art.
Henri Frederic Amiel