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When we wish to correct with advantage, and to show another that he errs, we must notice from what side he views the matter, for on that side it is usually true, and admit that truth to him, but reveal to him the side on which it is false. He is satisfied with that, for he sees that he was not mistaken, and that he only failed to see all sides.
Human life is thus only an endless illusion. Men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our presence as he does when we are gone. Society is based on mutual hypocrisy.
Talkative people listen to no one, for they are ever speaking. And the first evil surrounding those who do not know the meaning of silence is that they hear nothing.
What sort of tree is there which will not, if neglected, grow crooked and unfruitful, but which will, if given right attention, prove to be productive, and bring its fruit to maturity?
When people are overcome by rage, it is good to observe attentively the effects on those who deliver themselves up to this emotion.
Let a prince be guarded with soldiers, attended by counsellors, and protected by a fort, yet if his thoughts disturb him, he is miserable.
Philosophy is the art of living.
Nothing leads to good which is not natural.
Individual character is in the right that is in strict consistence with itself. Self-contradiction is the only wrong.
The tempest threatens before it rises upon us; buildings creak before they fall to pieces.
It is the mind that makes us rich and happy, in whatever conditions we are, and money signifies no more to it than it does to the gods.
If you are surprised at the number of our maladies, count our cooks.
Why does no man confess his vices? Because he is still in them. It is for a waking man to tell of his dreams.
An honest heart possesses a kingdom.
Egotism erects its center in itself; love places it out of itself in the axis of the universal whole. Love aims at unity, egotism at solitude. Love is the citizen ruler of a flourishing republic, egotism is a despot in a devastated land.
The man who fears nothing is as powerful as he who is feared by everybody.
A sublime soul can rise to all kinds of greatness, but by his own effort; it can tear itself loose from all bondage, to all that limits and restrains it, but only by the strength of determination.
The social impulse does not rest directly upon the love of people, but upon the fear of solitude. It is not just the charm of having the company of others that people seek; it is the dreary oppression of being alone — the monotony of their own consciousness — that they would avoid. They will do anything to escape it, even put up with bad companions, and tolerate the feeling of restraint which all society involves, which is very burdensome.
Himself is the source of the best and most a man can be or achieve. The more this is so — the more a man finds his sources of pleasure in himself — the happier he will be… For all other sources of happiness are in their nature most uncertain.
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone, and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom, for it is only when he is alone that he is really free. Restraint is always present in society, like a companion of whom there is no riddance, and in proportion to the greatness of a man’s individuality, it will be hard for him to bear the sacrifices which all contact with others demands.
