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Plainness Quotes

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Plainness Quotes

“We are, by our human natures, foolish. We engage in all manner of nonsense and create all sorts of problems for ourselves—some of them quite serious. There may be times in our lives when we find our world crumbling around us and see that we are losing that which we value most. In these circumstances, when the voices of our forthright friends are urgent, it would be more prudent to consider their warnings than complain about the tone of their voices or assert that they are not diplomatic. Real friends serve us best when they call out dangers that we cannot perceive. Plainspoken friends, particularly those who may have experienced the things we now suffer, may see and understand more than we can see and understand ourselves. It would be wise to listen to their counsel, even—perhaps especially—when our first instinct is to insist that our circumstances are different, that they do not understand us, or that they have hurt our feelings. Forthright friends are rare. If you have such friends, listen humbly and keep them close: you have discovered treasure.”

FeelingsHuman NatureHumilityFriendsNonsenseProblemsFoolishnessPlainness
Author:Jean-Michel Hansen
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“Simple is pretty because it is plain; simple is effective because it gives an understandable clear message; simple is genius because it gains our admiration with a minimum effort!”

SimpleMehmet Murat Ildan QuotesSimplicityTurkish LiteratureTurkish QuotesTurkish WritersMehmet Murat Ildan QuotationsIldan Wise SayingsTurkish Wisdom WordsTurkish PlaywrightsTurkish QuotationsTurkish AuthorsIldan WisdomIldan WordsTurkish AphorismsTurkish SayingsTurkish ThinkersPlainnessPlain
Author:Mehmet Murat Ildan
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“O full and splendid Moon, whom I Have, from this desk, seen climb the sky So many a midnight,—would thy glow For the last time beheld my woe! Ever thine eye, most mournful friend, O'er books and papers saw me bend; But would that I, on mountains grand, Amid thy blessed light could stand, With spirits through mountain-caverns hover, Float in thy twilight the meadows over, And, freed from the fumes of lore that swathe me, To health in thy dewy fountains bathe me! Ah, me! this dungeon still I see. This drear, accursed masonry, Where even the welcome daylight strains But duskly through the painted panes.”

PhilosophyPlainnessDeal With The Devil
Book:Faust
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“Socrates was the chief saint of the Stoics throughout their history ; his attitude at the time of his trial, his refusal to escape, his calmness in the face of death , and his contention that the perpetrator of injustice injures himself more than his victim, all fitted in perfectly with Stoic teaching. So did his indifference to heat and cold, his plainness in matters of food and dress, and his complete independence of all bodily comforts.”

MatterFacesAttitudeTeachingColdComfortDressesVictimIndependenceInjusticeSaintTrialsChiefsIndifferenceHeatCalmnessRefusalContentionStoicPerpetratorsPlainnessHeat And Cold
Book:History of Western Philosophy
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“To this end, nothing is to be more carefully consulted than plainness. In a lady's attire this is the single excellence; for to be what some people call fine, is the same vice, in that case, as to be florid is in writing or speaking.”

PeopleWritingEndsCasesFineExcellenceVicesAttirePlainness
Book:The Tatler and the Guardian: Complete in One Volume, with Notes, and a General Index
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“Who has not experienced how, on near acquaintance, plainness becomes beautified, and beauty loses its charm, exactly according to the quality of the heart and mind? And from this cause am I of opinion that the want of outward beauty never disquiets a noble nature or will be regarded as a misfortune. It never can prevent people from being amiable and beloved in the highest degree.”

PeopleWantMindHeartCausesLosesQualityBeautyOpinionDegreesHighestNobleBelovedCharmMisfortunesHeart And MindAcquaintanceAmiablePlainnessOutward Beauty
Book:New Sketches of Every-day Life: A Diary. Together with Strife and Peace
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“This is some fellow, Who having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect A saucy roughness and constrains the garb Quite from his nature: he can't flatter, he! An honest mind and plain,--he must speak truth! And they will take it so; if not he's plain. These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness Harbor more craft, and far corrupter ends, Than twenty silly, ducking observants, That stretch their duty nicely.”

IfsKnowsMindKindEndsSpeakHonestDutyTwentiesFellowsSillyCraftsHarborsSpeak The TruthKnavesConstrainPlainnessRoughnessBluntness
Book:A Treasury of Thought from Shakespeare: The Choice Sayings of His Principal Characters, Analytically and Alphabetically Arranged
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“Modest plainness sets off sprightly wit, For works may have more with than does 'em good, As bodies perish through excess of blood.”

MayDoeBodyBloodWitEmsExcessModestPlainness
Book:The poetical works: with his last corrections, additions and improvements : with the life of the author ; embellished with superb engravings
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“The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness; the darkness and crookedness is our own. The wisdom of God created understanding, fit and proportionable to truth, the object and end of it, as the eye to the thing visible. If our understanding have a film of ignorance over it, or be blear with gazing on other false glitterings, what is that to truth?”

IfsEndsEyeTruthFilmUnderstandingDarknessObjectsIgnoranceFitTruth IsEssenceVisibleOver ItBrightnessGazingPlainness
Book:The Prose Works of John Milton ...: With a Preface, Preliminary Remarks, and Notes
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“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody "had about enough to live on," and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”

MenYearsWellsEnoughYoungMotherWealthWifeFashionDaughterHundredDollarsDareQueensFortyDisplayVulgarAlasBostonVictoriaYoung LadiesShabbyWives And MothersPlainness
Author:M. E. W. Sherwood
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“The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as Americans. The time is come - it is now - when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government.”

GodGovernmentAmericaChoicesJesusChristResponsibilityAcceptingRightsAcceptanceDutyDependsOughtDisciplineSpeechTiredChaosPrivilegeConvictionHearingCompromiseCitizenshipDemonstratingDisintegrationPlainnessRights And Privileges
Author:Peter Marshall
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“The beginner should approach style warily, realizing that it is himself he is approaching, no other; and he should begin by turning resolutely away from all devices that are popularly believed to indicate style - all mannerisms, tricks, adornments. The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.”

WayShouldRealizingStyleApproachSimplicityTricksDevicesSincerityBeginnersAdornmentMannerismsPlainnessOrderliness
Book:In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers
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“The truth is, the Science of Nature has been already too long made only a work of the Brain and the Fancy: It is now high time that it should return to the plainness and soundness of Observations on material and obvious things.”

ShouldLongHas BeensMadeScienceTimeNatureBrainMaterialsReturnTruth IsAccountsObviousObservationFancyObvious ThingsSoundnessPlainness
Book:Extracts from Micrographia: Or, Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon
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“My life is simple, my food is plain, and my quarters are uncluttered. In all things, I have sought clarity. I face the troubles and problems of life and death willingly. Virtue, integrity and courage are my priorities. I can be approached, but never pushed; befriended but never coerced; killed but never shamed.”

LifeI CanProblemFacesLife IsSimpleCourageVirtueTroubleFoodInspirational LifeIntegrityApproachAll ThingsShameKillingPrioritiesClarityLife And DeathQuartersBadassSimple LifeClutterCoercePlainnessLife Is SimpleBefriending
Author:Yi Sun-sin
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“[In the Royal Society, there] has been, a constant Resolution, to reject all the amplifications, digressions, and swellings of style: to return back to the primitive purity, and shortness, when men deliver'd so many things, almost in an equal number of words. They have exacted from all their members, a close, naked, natural way of speaking; positive expressions; clear senses; a native easiness: bringing all things as near the Mathematical plainness, as they can: and preferring the language of Artizans, Countrymen, and Merchants, before that, of Wits, or Scholars.”

MenWayHas BeensLanguageNaturalNumbersClearStyleExpressionReturnEqualMembersAll ThingsMathematicsConstantWitSensesNakedMathematicalRejectionPurityNativeRejectsResolutionScholarPrimitiveRoyalMerchantsCountrymenSwellingShortnessPlainnessAmplificationEasinessReturn Back
Author:Thomas Sprat
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“Be neat, Philothea; let nothing be negligent about you. It is a kind of contempt of those with whom we converse, to frequent their company in uncomely apparel; but, at the same time, avoid all affectation, vanity, curiosity, or levity in your dress. Keep yourself always, as much as possible, on the side of plainness and modesty, which, without doubt, is the greatest ornament of beauty, and the best excuse for the want of it.”

WantKindSidesCompanyDoubtDressesCuriosityExcuseVanityContemptModestyNeatOrnamentsConversesApparelLevityPlainness
Author:Saint Francis de Sales
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“Errors and exaggerations do not matter. What matters is boldness in thinking with a strong-pitched voice, in speaking out about things as one feels them in the moment of speaking; in having the temerity to proclaim what one believes to be true without fear of the consequences. If one were to await the possession of the absolute truth, one must be either a fool or a mute. If the creative impulse were muted, the world would then be stayed on its march.”

IfsThinkingWorldFeelsBelieveMatterMomentsTruthSpeakStrongFearVoiceCreativeFoolConsequenceAbsolutesErrorsPossessionBeing TrueImpulseMarchOpennessSincerityWhat MattersBoldnessExaggerationMuteAbsolute TruthSpeaking OutProclaimingCreativenessPlainness
Author:Jose Clemente Orozco
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