Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Related Quotes

Martin Bentzel von Sternau und Hohenau

Candor is the seal of a noble mind, the ornament and pride of man, the sweetest charm of woman, the scorn of a rascal and the rarest virtue of sociability.

Candor | Character | Man | Mind | Pride | Virtue | Virtue | Woman |

Lord Acton, John Emerich Dalberg-Acton

Good and evil lie close together. Seek no artistic unity in character.

Character | Evil | Good | Unity |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

A great estate is a great disadvantage to those who do not know hot to use it, for nothing is more common than to see wealthy persons live scandalously and miserably; riches do them no service in order to virtue and happiness; it is precept and principle, not an estate, that makes a man good for something.

Character | Good | Man | Nothing | Order | Precept | Riches | Service | Virtue | Virtue | Riches |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Nothing is evil which is according to nature.

Character | Evil | Nature | Nothing |

George Matthew Adams

It is indifference which is the cause of most of our unhappiness. Indifference to religion, to the happiness of others, and to the precious gift of freedom, and the wide liberty that is the inheritance of all in a free land. Are we our "Brother's Keeper"? We certainly are! If we had no regard for others' feelings or fortune, we would grow cold and indifferent to life itself. Bound up with selfishness, we could not hope for the success that could easily be ours.

Cause | Character | Feelings | Fortune | Freedom | Hope | Indifference | Inheritance | Land | Liberty | Life | Life | Regard | Religion | Selfishness | Success | Unhappiness | Happiness |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect.

Character | Esteem | Respect | Self | Wisdom |

Joseph von Auffenberg

He that does not respect confidence will never find happiness in his path. The belief in virtue vanishes from his heart; the source of nobler actions becomes extinct in him.

Belief | Character | Confidence | Heart | Respect | Virtue | Virtue | Will | Wisdom | Respect | Happiness |

Francis Atterbury

It is impossible to have a lively hope in another life, and yet be deeply immersed in the enjoyments of this.

Character | Hope | Life | Life |

Khajah Abdullah Ansari of Herat, Abu Ismaïl Abdullah ibn Abi-Mansour Mohammad or Khajah Abdullah Ansari of Herat

The company of a good man is the light of the soul, of an evil man the poison of life.

Character | Evil | Good | Life | Life | Light | Man | Soul |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Be simple and modest in your deportment, and treat with indifference whatever lies between virtue and vice.

Character | Indifference | Virtue | Virtue |

Simeon ben Azai, sometimes Ben Azai

The recompense of virtue is virtue, and sin, sin.

Character | Recompense | Sin | Virtue | Virtue |

Honoré de Balzac

Gentleness in the gait is what simplicity is in the dress. Violent gesture or quick movement inspires involuntary disrespect. One looks for a moment at a cascade; but one sits for hours, lost in thought, and gazing upon the still water of a lake. A deliberate gait, gentle manners, and a gracious tone of voice - all of which may be acquired - give a mediocre man an immense advantage over those vastly superior to him. To be bodily tranquil, to speak little, and to digest without effort are absolutely necessary to grandeur of mind or of presence, or to proper development of genius.

Character | Disrespect | Effort | Genius | Gentleness | Little | Looks | Man | Manners | Mind | Simplicity | Thought |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore guard accordingly; and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.

Care | Character | Life | Life | Nature | Virtue | Virtue | Happiness |

Henri Bergson, aka Henri-Louis Bergson

It is when we detect our own weaknesses that we come to pity or despise mankind. The human nature from which we then turn away is the human nature we have discovered in the depths of our own being. The evil is so well screened, the secret so universally kept, that in this case each individual is the dupe of all: however severely we may profess to judge other men, at bottom we think them better than ourselves. On this happy illusion much of our social life is grounded.

Better | Character | Despise | Evil | Happy | Human nature | Illusion | Individual | Life | Life | Mankind | Men | Nature | Pity | Think |