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

Fred de Armond

A man who truly wants to make the world better should start by improving himself and his attitudes.

Better | Character | Man | Wants | World |

Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa, also known as Rabbeinu Behaye

It is integrity that invests man with immortality, and bestows upon him the privilege of direct communion with God.

Character | God | Immortality | Integrity | Man | Privilege |

Arthur Aughey

Open your heart to sympathy, but close it against despondency. The flower which opens to receive the dew shuts against the rain

Character | Despondency | Heart | Receive | Sympathy |

Arthur Aughey

There are many seasons in a man’s life - and the more exalted and responsible his position, the more frequently do these seasons recur - when the voice of duty and the dictates of feeling are opposed to each other; and it is only the weak and the wicked who yield that obedience to the selfish impulses of the heart which is due to reason and honor.

Character | Duty | Heart | Honor | Life | Life | Man | Obedience | Position | Reason |

Simeon ben Azai, sometimes Ben Azai

Despise not any man, and do not spurn anything; for there is no man that has not his hour, nor is there anything that has not its place.

Character | Despise | Man |

Samuel Belkin

The Art of Teaching does not consist only of instruction in the three R's. There is more to teaching than conveying information. Teaching is the continuous process of building character, establishing moral attitudes, creating respect for the good way of life and distaste for the lightheaded and irresponsible mode of existence.

Art | Character | Existence | Good | Life | Life | Respect | Respect | Instruction | Art |

Arthur Aughey

A cheerful spirit is one of the most valuable gifts ever bestowed upon humanity by a kind Creator. It is the sweetest and the most fragrant flower of the Spirit, that constantly sends out its beauty and fragrance, and blesses everything within its reach. It will sustain the soul in the darkest and most dreary places of this world. It will hold in check the demons of despair, and stifle the power of discouragement and hopelessness. It is the brightest star that ever cast its radiance over the darkened soul, and one that seldom sets in the gloom of morbid fancies and foreboding imaginations.

Beauty | Character | Despair | Gloom | Humanity | Power | Soul | Spirit | Will | World | Beauty |

Joanna Baillie

A willing heart adds feather to the heel, and makes the clown a winged Mercury.

Character | Heart |

Honoré de Balzac

[Paraphrase] Self consciousness, while glorious for what is has done, is at the same time baneful, because it precludes man from entering the Cosmic Conscious life, which leads to the infinite - which alone can explain God.

Character | Consciousness | God | Life | Life | Man | Self | Time |

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 |

Agathon NULL

The improvement of the mind improves the heart and corrects the understanding.

Character | Heart | Improvement | Mind | Understanding |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

A man does not sin by commission only, but often by omission.

Character | Man | Sin |

Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

Character | Man | Men | Opinion | Rest | Value |

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 |

Walter Bagehot

The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

Character | Life | Life | People | Pleasure | Wisdom |

Faith Baldwin

You cannot contribute anything to the ideal condition of mind and heart known as Brotherhood, however much you preach, posture, or agree, unless you live it.

Brotherhood | Character | Heart | Mind |