Joseph Joubert Quotes

Religion is fire which example keeps alive, and which goes out if not communicated.

In these times gain is not only a matter of greed, but of ambition.

Man is born with the faculty of speech. Who gives it to him? He who gives the bird its song.

TIME and truth are friends, though there are many moments hostile to truth.

I resemble the poplar,--that tree which, even when old, still looks young.

Religion is neither a theology nor a theosophy; it is more than that, it is a discipline, a law, a yoke, an indissoluble engagement.

The mind's direction is more important than its progress.

We do not do well except when we know where the best is and when we are assured that we have touched it and hold its power within us.

Without duty, life is soft and boneless.

If you would live happily, do not exaggerate life's evils, nor slight her blessings.

Life is a country that the old have seen, and lived in. Those who have to travel through it can only learn from them.

Without duty, life is sort of boneless; it cannot hold itself together.

Misery is almost always the result of thinking.

We live in an age in which superfluous ideas abound and essential ideas are lacking.

Common sense suits itself to the ways of the world. Wisdom tries to confirm to the ways of heaven.

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.

The breath of the mind is attention.

The passions of the young are vices in the old.

Love and fear. Everything the father of a family says must inspire one or the other.

It is easier to be mistaken about the true than the beautiful.

Genuine witticisms surprise those who say them as much as those who listen to them; they arise in us in spite of us, or, at least, without our participation,--like everything inspired.

We measure minds by their stature; it would be better to esteem them by their beauty.

When one has too great a dread of what is impending, one feels some relief when the trouble has come.

Remorse is the punishment of crime; repentance, its expiation. The former appertains to a tormented conscience; the latter to a soul changed for the better.

Poetry is to be found nowhere unless we carry it within us.

Slander is the solace of malignity.

Heaven is for those who think of it.

In temperance there is ever cleanliness and elegance.

A fluent writer always seems more talented than he is. To write well, one needs a natural felicity and an acquired difficulty.

Taste is the literary conscience of the soul.

It is an aspect of all happiness to suppose that we deserve it.

Children need models rather than critics.

The last word should be the last word. It is like a finishing touch given to color; there is nothing more to add. But what precaution is needed in order not to put the last word first.

Nothing ruins the truth like stretching it... GET RICH QUICK! Count your blessings... Stop telling GOD how big your storm is. Instead, tell the storm how big your GOD is!!!!!! Contentment begins where comparison ends. The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.

To see the world is to judge the judges.

The supreme sway of chastity over the senses makes her queenly.

To be capable of respect is almost as rare as to be worthy of it.

History needs distance, perspective. Facts and events which are too well attested cease, in some sort, to be malleable.

Words, like glasses, obscure everything they do not make clear. Before using a fine word, make a place for it.

All good verses are like impromptus made at leisure.

The joy which is caused by truth and noble thoughts shows itself in the words by which they are expressed.

To be an agreeable guest one need only enjoy oneself.

Tenderness is the rest of passion.

In bringing up a child, think of its old age.

Living requires but little life; doing requires much.

Maxims are to the intellect what laws are to actions; they do not enlighten, but they guide and direct, and, although themselves blind, are protective.

Religion must be loved as a kind of country and nursing-mother. It was religion that nourished our virtues, that showed us heaven, that taught us to walk in the path of duty.

Men must be either the slaves of duty, or the slaves of force.