Henri Frederic Amiel
Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing.
Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness.
Charm is the quality in others, that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.
Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more.
An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains.
Action is coarsened thought; thought becomes concrete, obscure, and unconscious.
Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt.
A man must be able to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied; he must know how to disengage what is essential from the detail in which it is enwrapped, for everything cannot be equally considered; in a word, he must be able to simplify his duties, his business and his life.