Men 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 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 AmielNothing is more characteristic of a man than the manner in which he behaves toward fools.
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 AmielHe who floats with the current, who does not guide himself according to higher principles, who has no ideal, no convictions-such a man is . . . a thing moved, instead of a living and moving being-an echo, not a voice. The man who has no inner-life is a slave of his surroundings as the barometer is the obedient servant of the air.
Henri Frederic Amiel