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Discreet Quotes

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Discreet Quotes

“The discreet man finds out the talents of those he converses with, and knows how to apply them to proper uses. Accordingly, if we look into particular communities and divisions of men, we may observe that it is the discreet man, not the witty, nor the learned, nor the brave, who guides the conversation, and gives measures to the society.”

IfsKnowsMenGivingLooksMayUseCommunityKnow HowTalentParticularConversationBraveWittyGuidesDivisionConversesDiscreet
Book:The spectator
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“When suicide is out of fashion we conclude that none but madmen destroy themselves; and all the efforts of courage appear chimerical to dastardly minds ... Nevertheless, how many instances are there, well attested, of men, in every other respect perfectly discreet, who, without remorse, rage, or despair, have quitted life for no other reason than because it was a burden to them, and have died with more composure than they lived?”

MenMindWellsReasonEffortFashionDespairDiedSuicideBurdenRageInstanceNeverthelessRemorseMadmenComposureDiscreet
Book:ESSAYS ON SUICIDE AND THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
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“Nothing is text but what is spoken of in the Bible and meant there for person and place; the rest is application; which a discreet man may do well; but it is his scripture, not the Holy Ghost's. First, in your sermons use your logic, and then your rhetoric; rhetoric without logic is like a tree with leaves and blossoms, but no root.”

MenFirstsWellsMayPersonsUseTreeHolyRootsLogicScriptureGhostApplicationPreachingRhetoricSermonsHoly GhostDiscreet
Author:John Selden
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“When Julian ascended the throne, he declared his impatience to embrace and reward the Syrian sophist, who had preserved, in a degenerate age, the Grecian purity of taste, of manners and of religion. The emperor's prepossession was increased and justified by the discreet pride of his favourite.”

AgeHistoryPrideTasteEmbraceRewardsMannersPurityFavouriteThronesJustifiedImpatienceEmperorRoman EmpireDegeneratesDiscreet
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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“Rare almost as great poets, rarer, perhaps, than veritable saints and martyrs; are consummate men of business. A man, to be excellent in this way, requires a great knowledge of character, with that exquisite tact which feels unerringly the right moment when to act. A discreet rapidity must pervade all the movements of his thought and action. He must be singularly free from vanity, and is generally found to be an enthusiast who has the art to conceal his enthusiasm.”

MenWayFeelsArtMomentsCharacterActionFoundBusinessMovementPoetSaintEnthusiasmVanityExcellentMartyrExquisiteTactGreat PoetRight MomentThoughts And ActionsDiscreetGreat Knowledge
Author:Arthur Helps
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“Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she gives pleasure and instruction to all with whom she communicates.”

GivingPleasureFlowerSolitudeLimitsDelightWittyCommunicateWoodsInstructionFountainRetiredMeadowsConsoleProprietyChasteEnnuiDiscreet
Author:Miguel de Cervantes
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“At forty my faculties may have closed up like flowers at evening, leaving me unable to write my memoirs with a fitting and discreet inaccuracy, or, having written them, unable to carry them to the publisher.”

WritingMayWrittenFlowerLeavingMemoirEveningFortyFacultyPublishersLeaving MeFittingDiscreet
Book:James Thurber: Writings & Drawings (including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
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“All previous crimes of the Russian empire had been committed under the cover of a discreet shadow. The deportation of a million Lithuanians, the murder of hundreds of thousands of Poles, the liquidation of the Crimean Tatars remain in our memory, but no photographic documentation exists; sooner or later they will therefore be proclaimed as fabrications.”

MemoriesMillionsCrimeShadowMurderCommittedEmpiresSooner Or LaterOur MemoriesDocumentationDiscreetFabricationDeportationLithuanians
Author:Milan Kundera
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“You know what I never get with the limo? The tinted windows. Is that so people don't see you? Yeah, what a better way not to have people notice you than taking a thirty foot Cadillac with a TV antenna and a uniformed driver. How discreet. Nobody cares who's in the limo. You see a limo go by, you know it's either some rich jerk or fifty prom kids with $1.75 each.”

PeopleKnowsWayCareKidsRichFeetTvsWindowYeahThirtyFiftyDriversBetter WaysJerkPromNobody CaresDiscreetCadillacsAntennaLimos
Author:Jerry Seinfeld
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“I was born in Quebec City, I've lived there many years before moving to Montreal and then Ottawa. And I mean, Quebec City is a very, you know, closed city if I may say. So it's not easy to be accepted living in Quebec City. So if you're from a different faith, you may be a bit timid in showing your faith. So I mean, you're already from a different country, you're an immigrant and hearing what you hear about Islam, you might not wish to be identified as a Muslim, and you may be very discreet into your faith and going to the mosque.”

IfsKnowsYearsMayMeanDifferentCountryMightMovingWishEasyBitsBornCitiesIslamHearingAcceptedImmigrantsMosquesDifferent CountriesMontrealQuebecDiscreetDifferent FaithsOttawa
Author:Andre Pratte
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“Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs.”

LoveMadeRomancePassionLove IsLove YouRomanticAnd LoveLove StoryConfusionSmokeInspirational LoveReal LoveValentineSighValentine's DayGreat LoveBeing LovedPassionate LoveJulietFamous LoveTime LoveRomeo And Juliet PlayLove And TrustLove PassionRomeo JulietDiscreetRomeo And Juliet JulietValentine LoveValentines Day LoveRomeo And Juliet RomeoBest Ever LoveLove And PassionRomantic Valentines DayRomeo And Juliet LoveMy True LoveSt ValentineHappy ValentinesHappy Valentines DayValentine PhrasesValentines Day CardsBe My ValentineSweet ValentineIntense LoveObsessive LoveAnti LoveValentines GreetingsWounded HeartSad Valentines DayUnique Valentines DayRomantic Romeo And JulietFebruary LoveValentines Day GreetingsRomantic PassionateAway From LoveSpecial LoveLovers EyesSmoke And FireMade With Love
Book:Romeo and Juliet
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“If hatred strikes you, if you get accused, thrown to the lions, you can expect one of two reactions from people who know you: some of them will join in the kill, the others will discreetly pretend to know nothing, hear nothing, so you can go right on seeing them and talking to them. That second category, discreet and tactful, those are your friends. 'Friends' in the modern sense of the term. Listen, Jean-Marc, I've known that forever.”

PeopleIfsKnowsTwoTermTalkingKnownForeverSeeingModernHatredStrikesReactionsThrownCategoriesLionsAccusedDiscreet
Author:Milan Kundera
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“The fate of peoples is made like this, two men in small rooms. Forget the coronations, the conclaves of cardinals, the pomp and processions. This is how the world changes: a counter pushed across a table, a pen stroke that alters the force of a phrase, a woman's sigh as she passes and leaves on the air a trail of orange flower or rose water; her hand pulling close the bed curtain, the discreet sigh of flesh against flesh.”

MenWorldMadeTwoHandsForceWaterForgetRoomsFateAirFlowerBedTablesRoseFleshPhrasesPensPullingStrokesOrangeSighCurtainsTrailsCardinalsProcessionDiscreetCoronationSmall Rooms
Author:Hilary Mantel
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