Henri Frederic Amiel

Every situation is an equilibrium of forces every life is a struggle between opposing forces working within the limits of a certain equilibrium

Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius.

War is a brutal and fierce means of pacification it means the suppression of resistance by the destruction or enslavement of the conquered.

Dont be too clever for an audience. Make it obvious. Make the subtleties obvious also.

Learn to be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

We only understand that which already within us.

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty.

Common sense is calculation applied to life.

Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy.

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life.

It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented with ourselves.

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.

For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will.

When everything has its proper place in our minds we are able to stand in equilibrium with the rest of the world.

Will localizes us; thought universalizes us.

If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.

Mutual respect implies discretion and reserve even in love itself; it means preserving as much liberty as possible to those whose life we share. We must distrust our instinct of intervention, for the desire to make one's own will prevail is often disguised under the mask of solicitude.

A man without passion is only a latent force, only a possibility, like a stone waiting for the blow from the iron to give forth sparks.

Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies.

The test of every religious, political, or educational system is the man that it forms.

Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven.

Society lives by faith, and develops by science.

To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy.

Thought is a kind of opium; it can intoxicate us, while still broad awake; it can make transparent the mountains and everything that exists.

Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.

Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.

We only understand that which already is within us.

Great men are true men the men in whom nature has succeeded. They are not extraordinary they are in the true order. It is the other species of men who are not what they ought to be.

An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains.

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore not because they are pretty or good or well bred or graceful or intelligent but because they are themselves.

Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.

Charm is the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.

Doing easily what others find difficult is talent doing what is impossible for talent is genius.

Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.

Charm the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.

It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching.

Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more.

Sympathy is the first condition of criticism.

There is no respect for others without humility in ones self.

Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.

To marry unequally is to suffer equally.

In every loving woman there is a priestess of the past - a pious guardian of some affection, of which the object has disappeared.

I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel.

To shun one's cross is to make it heavier.

Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults, a gigantic scaffolding whose object is to hide from us our favorite sin.

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or wellbred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.

Woman is the salvation or destruction of the family. She carries its destinies in the folds of her mantle.

Learn to... be what you are and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

It is not what he had or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man but what he is.

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.

The spirit of sarcasm lives and thrives in the midst of universal wreck; its balls are enchanted and itself invulnerable, and it braves retaliations and reprisals because itself is a mere flash, a bodiless and magical nothing.

Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence.

Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing.

Cleverness is serviceable for everything sufficient for nothing.

Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.

To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.

Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness.

Order is power.

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.

The only substance properly so called is the soul.

To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.

Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.

Man never knows what he wants; he aspires to penetrate mysteries and as soon as he has, he wants to reestablish them. Ignorance irritates him and knowledge cloys.

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy for it means pushing back a boundary line and adding to ones liberty.

The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings.

Sacrifice still exists everywhere, and everywhere the elect of each generation suffers for the salvation of the rest.

Life alone can rekindle life.

The best path through life is the highway.

War is a brutal and fierce means of pacification; it means the suppression of resistance by the destruction or enslavement of the conquered.

To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius.

Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.

Order is a great person's need and their true well being.

Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.

Destiny has two ways of crushing us by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.

It is not what he has or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man but what he is.

True humility is contentment.

In health there is liberty. Health is the first of all liberties, and happiness gives us the energy which is the basis of health.

Life is short and we never have enough time for the hearts of those who travel the way with us. O, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.

The art which is grand and yet simple is that which presupposes the greatest elevation both in artist and in public.

Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false.

So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being.

Woman is the salvation or the destruction of the family. She carries its destiny in the folds of her mantle.

Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion.

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest; we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction and vary the song.

Charm is the quality in others, that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes.

Truth is the secret of eloquence and of virtue, the basis of moral authority; it is the highest summit of art and of life.

Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.

In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties.

Action is coarsened thought; thought becomes concrete, obscure, and unconscious.

Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.

Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt.

Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness.