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William Matthews

William Matthews Books

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“Stoutly as we may affirm that our disasters and vices are chargeable to luck, we never dream of ascribing our meritorious deeds, in the slightest degree to its agency. In such cases we quite unconsciously blink out of sight the magic power of the latter principle, so wondrous and all-controlling in its influence at other times, and coolly appropriate to ourselves not merely the lion's share, but the whole glory of our position.”

MayWholeDreamPrinciplesCasesMagicShareInfluencePositionDegreesGlorySightLuckVicesDeedsDisasterAgencyAppropriateLatterLionsBlinkWondrousMagic Powers
Author:William Matthews
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“Intercourse is after all man's best teacher. "Know thyself" is an excellent maxim; but even self-knowledge cannot be perfected in closets and cloisters--nor amid lake scenery, and on the sunny side of the mountains. Men who seldom mix with their fellow-creatures are almost sure to be one-sided--the victims of fixed ideas, that sometimes lead to insanity.”

KnowsMenIdeasSelfSometimesSidesTeacherMountainCreaturesFellowsVictimExcellentInsanityFixedLakesSelf KnowledgeClosetsMaximsThyselfIntercourseSunnySceneryKnow ThyselfBest TeacherOne SidedMountain ManSunny Side
Author:William Matthews
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“What are the precise characteristics of an epigram it is not easy to define. It differs from a joke, in the fact that the wit of the latter dies in the words, and cannot therefore be conveyed in another language; while an epigram is a wit of ideas, and hence, is translatable. Like aphorisms, songs and sonnets, it is occupied with some single point, small and manageable; but whilst a song conveys a sentiment, a sonnet a poetical, and an aphorism a moral reflection, an epigram expresses a contrast.”

IdeasFactsSongDiesLanguageEasyMoralJokesReflectionWitCharacteristicsLatterSentimentsContrastAphorismPreciseSonnetEpigramsManageable
Author:William Matthews
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“Solitary reading will enable a man to stuff himself with information, but without conversation his mind will become like a pond without an outlet-a mass of unhealthy stag-nature. It is not enough to harvest knowledge by study; the wind of talk must winnow it and blow away the chaff. Then will the clear, bright grains of wisdom be garnered, for our own use or that of others.”

MenMindEnoughUseReadingStuffKnowledgeStudyClearInformationWindConversationMassBlowGrainSolitaryHarvestOutletsUnhealthyPondsStags
Author:William Matthews
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“A great deal of the joy of life consists in doing perfectly, or at least to the best of one's ability, everything which one attempts to do. There is a sense of satisfaction, a pride in surveying such a work, a work which is rounded, full, exact, complete in all its parts-which the superficial man, who leaves his work in a slovenly, slipshod, half-finished condition can never know. It is this conscientious completeness which turns work into art. The smallest thing, well done, becomes artistic.”

KnowsMenWellsArtDoneJoyTurnsAbilityDealsHalfConditionsPridePerfectionSatisfactionFinishedArtisticSmallestSuperficialJoy Of LifeWell DoneCompleteness
Author:William Matthews
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