“Some people pretend they never were in love and never wrote poetry; two weaknesses which they dare not own -- one of the heart, the other of the mind.” PeopleMindHeartTwoPoetryWeaknessDare Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“When, after having read a work, loftier thoughts arise in your mind and noble and heartfelt feelings animate you, do not look for any other rule to judge it by; it is fine and written in a masterly manner.” MindLooksFeelingsReadingWrittenJudgingFineNobleAriseHeartfelt Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of one's knowledge, and what is to be their end? What can be more deeply disheartening than to wonder whether one's soul is, perhaps, a material thing, like a stone or a reptile, corruptible like these base creatures? Is there not more strength and greatness of mind in admitting the idea of a being superior to all other beings, who has made them all and to whom all owe their existence; of a being supremely perfect, who is pure, who had no beginning and can have no ending, of whom our soul is the image and, so to speak, a portion, being a spiritual and immortal thing?” IfsMenMindMayDoeMadeIdeasSoulEndsAbleSpiritualPerfectDoubtSubjectsMaterialsPureProveCreaturesAll ThingsStonesCorruptionSuperiorsImmortalDiscouragingGrandeurStrength Of MindReptiles Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“We need not envy certain people their great wealth; they acquired it at a heavy cost, which would not suit us; they staked their rest, their health, their honour and their conscience to acquire it, the price is too high, and there is nothing to be gained by such a bargain.” MenMindMadeCertainGivenWealthClassConsciencePaidDearEnvyRichesEnormousSuitsPeace Of MindHonourBargains Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“A man of variable mind is not one man, but several men in one; he multiplies himself as often as he changes his taste and manners; he is not this minute what he was the last, and will not be the next what he is now; he is his own successor.” MenMindLastsNextMinutesTasteMannersOne ManVariablesSuccessors Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“I call worldly or earthly those whose minds and hearts are fixed on a tiny portion of this world they live in, which is our earth; who respect and love nothing beyond it: people as limited as what they call their property or their estate, which can be measured, whose acres can be counted, whose boundaries can be shown.” MenMindWellsHeartEarthValuesUniverseKnownLimitsAnd LoveSpotsFixedEstatesWell KnownWorldlyHeart And MindSmall PartsAcresCoarse Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.” MindWould BeGriefCompassionInjusticeInsultGreat Minds Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“An assembly of the states, a court of justice, shows nothing so serious and grave as a table of gamesters playing very high; a melancholy solicitude clouds their looks; envy and rancor agitate their minds while the meeting lasts, without regard to friendship, alliances, birth or distinctions.” MindLooksStatesShowsLastsJusticeSeriousBirthRegardTablesCourtMeetingsCloudsEnvyGravesDistinctionGamblingMelancholyAlliancesAssemblyAgitateSolicitudeRancor Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“I do not doubt but that genuine piety is the spring of peace of mind; it enables us to bear the sorrows of life, and lessens the pangs of death: the same cannot be said of hypocrisy.” MindSaidDoubtBearsSorrowSpringGenuineHypocrisyPeace Of MindPiety Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“The mind, like all other things, will become impaired, the sciences are its food,--they nourish, but at the same time they consume it.” Mind Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“The sublime only paints the true, and that too in noble objects; it paints it in all its phases, its cause and its effect; it is the most worthy expression or image of this truth. Ordinary minds cannot find out the exact expression, and use synonymes.” MindUseCausesEffectsObjectsExpressionOrdinaryPaintWorthyNoblePhasesSublime Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“A good author, and one who writes carefully, often discovers that the expression of which he has been in search without being able to discover it, and which he has at last found, is that which was the most simple, the most natural, and which seems as if it ought to have presented itself at once, without effort, to the mind.” IfsWritingMindHas BeensSeemsAbleLastsFoundNaturalSimpleEffortExpressionOughtGood Authors Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.” ThinkingWritingMindMediocreGood MindMediocre Minds Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“Two quite opposite qualities equally bias our minds - habits and novelty.” MindTwoQualityHabitOppositesPrejudiceBiasNoveltyBiased Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“There are some souls so base and filthy that they love gain and interest as noble souls love fame and virtue, knowing one pleasure only, that of making money or of not losing it; anxious and avid for their ten per cent; entirely preoccupied with what is owed them; forever concerned about the depreciation or discredit of money; buried, and as it were engulfed, amid contracts, title-deeds and parchments. Such people are neither parents, friends, citizens or Christians, nor, perhaps, even men; they merely have money.” FeelsMindSoulInterestPleasureVirtueGloryGainsGreedSuperiorsAcquireAvariceFilthSlime Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.” MindStoriesChanceMarkRateSecond ChanceTelling StoriesSecond Rate Author:Jean de la Bruyere
“When what you read elevates your mind and fills you with noble aspirations, look for no other rule by which to judge a book; it is good, and is the work of a master-hand.” MindLooksBookHandsJudgingMastersNobleAspiration Author:Jean de la Bruyere
