Sympathy is the first condition of criticism; reason and justice presuppose, at their origin, emotion.
Henri Frederic AmielAt bottom there is but one subject of study: the forms and metamorphoses of mind. All other subjects may be reduced to that; all other studies bring us back to this study.
Henri Frederic AmielLet mystery have its place in you ; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the ploughshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring.
Henri Frederic AmielA 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.
Henri Frederic Amiel