He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature, and a continuous good progress towards inner contentment and spiritual submission, is less likely than anyone else to miss and waste life. Henri Amiel (1821 – 1881)
Henri Amiel Quote – “We are free only so far as we are not dupes…”
We are free only so far as we are not dupes of ourselves, our pretexts, our instincts, our temperament. We are freed by energy and the critical spirit — that is to say, by detachment of soul, by self-government. So that we are enslaved, but susceptible of freedom; we are bound, but capable of shaking off our bonds. Henri Amiel […]
Henri Amiel Quote – “He who floats with the current…”
He who floats with the current, who does not guide himself according to higher principles, who has no ideal, no convictions — such a man is… a thing moved, instead of a living and moving being — an echo, not a voice. The man who has no inner life is a slave of his surroundings, as the barometer is the […]
Henri Amiel Quote – “The true critic strives for a clear vision…”
The true critic strives for a clear vision of things as they are… his effort is to get free from himself, so that he may in no way distort that which he wishes to understand or reproduce. His superiority to the common herd lies in this effort… He distrusts his own senses, he sifts his own impressions, by returning upon […]
Henri Amiel Quote – “The individual fears ridicule above all things…”
The individual fears ridicule above all things, and ridicule is the certain result of originality. No one, therefore, wishes to make a party of his own; everyone wishes to be on the side of all the world. Henri Amiel (1821 – 1881)
Henri Amiel Quote – “The man who has no refuge in himself…”
The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not properly speaking a personality at all; he is not distinct, free, original, a cause — in a word, someone. He is one of the crowd, a taxpayer, an elector, an anonymity, but not […]
Henry Amiel Quote – “Liberty in submission: what a problem!…”
Liberty in submission: what a problem! And yet that is what we must always come back to. Henri Amiel (1821 – 1881)
Henri Amiel Quote – “I love everything, and dislike one thing only…”
I love everything, and dislike one thing only: the desperate imprisonment of my being… Liberty for the inner man is then the strongest of my passions — perhaps my only passion. Henri Amiel (1821 – 1881)
Henri Amiel Quote – “We must fight the fight…!”
We must fight the fight! We only find rest in effort. Henri Amiel (1821 – 1881)
Henri Amiel Quote – “Nothing is more hidden from us than…”
Nothing is more hidden from us than the illusion which lives with us day by day, and our greatest illusion is to believe that we are what we think ourselves to be. Henri Amiel (1821 – 1881)
