Henri Frederic Amiel
Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.
Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.
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.
Will localizes us; thought universalizes us.
Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, uncertain, and disputed voice, it is not the voice of God. Descend still deeper into yourself, until you hear nothing but a clear, undivided voice, a voice which does away with doubt and brings with it persuasion, light, and serenity.
What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution.
We only understand that which already within us.
We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented with ourselves.
Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.
True humility is contentment.
To shun one's cross is to make it heavier.
To marry unequally is to suffer equally.
To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy.
To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest; we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction and vary the song.
To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius.
To depersonalize man is the dominant drift of our times.
Thought is a kind of opium; it can intoxicate us, while still broad awake; it can make transparent the mountains and everything that exists.
There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.
The only substance properly so called is the soul.
The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.