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

Francis Quarles

If thou desire to see thy child virtuous, let him not see his father’s vices; thou canst not rebuke that in children that they behold practiced in thee; till reason be ripe, examples direct more than precepts; such as thy behavior is before they children’s faces, such commonly is theirs behind their parents backs.

Behavior | Character | Children | Desire | Father | Parents | Reason | Rebuke | Child |

George Ripley

It is not he who searches for praise who finds it.

Character | Praise |

Publius Syrus

To shun desire is to conquer a kingdom.

Character | Desire |

Francis Quarles

If you desire to be magnanimous, undertake nothing rashly, and fear nothing thou undertakes; fear nothing but infamy; dare anything but injury; the measure of magnanimity is neither to be rash nor timorous.

Character | Desire | Fear | Infamy | Magnanimity | Nothing |

Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz

Regardless of how much honor he receives, an honor-seeker will feel upset if even one person does not show him the honor and approval he demands. There will never be an amount of honor that will satisfy him. Physical desires have a saturation point, but the desire for honor is based on falsehood and illusion and is really nothing in itself.

Character | Desire | Falsehood | Honor | Illusion | Nothing | Will | Approval |

William Makepeace Thackeray

A man is seldom more manly than when he is what you called unmanned - the source of his emotion is championship, pity, and courage; the instinctive desire to cherish those who are innocent and unhappy, and defend those who are tender and weak.

Character | Courage | Desire | Man | Pity |

Ganga Stone

The desire to serve others is the highest impulse of the human heart and the rewards of such service are beyond measure. If you wish to taste this, then just do it. Just take one step... You will see that the tyranny of self-concern, worry, and trivial pursuits can be released from your life with that single step. It doesn't really matter what you do, it only matters that you do it.

Character | Desire | Heart | Impulse | Life | Life | Self | Service | Taste | Tyranny | Will | Worry |

Alexander Ziskind Maimon

The only way to do good deeds without being motivated by the need for approval from others is to reach the level of considering praise and insults equal.

Character | Deeds | Good | Need | Praise | Deeds | Approval |

Johann Georg Zimmermann

There appears to exist a greater desire to live long than to live well! Measure by man's desires, he cannot live long enough; measure by his good deeds, and he has not lived long enough; measure by his evil deeds, and he has lived too long.

Character | Deeds | Desire | Enough | Evil | Good | Man |