One may guess the why and wherefore of a tear and yet find it too subtle to give any account of. A tear may be the poetical resume of so many simultaneous impressions, the quintessence of so many opposing thoughts! It is like a drop of one of those precious elixirs of the East which contain the life of twenty plants fused into a single aroma.
Henri Frederic AmielCriticism is above all a gift, an intuition, a matter of tact and flair; it cannot be taught or demonstrated--it is an art.
Henri Frederic AmielMen don't achieve truth because they lack humility and love of truth. They won't criticize their own beliefs. Truth would overwhelm them.
Henri Frederic AmielHeroism is the brilliant triumph of the soul over the flesh - over fear...Heroism is the dazzling and glorious concentration of courage.
Henri Frederic AmielWhat we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution.
Henri Frederic AmielTo feel keenly the poetry of a morning's roses, one has to have just escaped from the claws of this vulture which we call sickness.
Henri Frederic AmielIt would have been a joy to me to be smiled upon, loved, encouraged, welcomed, and to obtain what I was so ready to give, kindness and goodwill. But to hunt down consideration and reputation - to force the esteem of others - seemed to me an effort unworthy of myself, almost a degradation.
Henri Frederic Amiel