Henri Frederic Amiel

Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Society lives by faith, and develops by science.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy.
Henri Frederic Amiel

An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Charm is the quality in others, that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.
Henri Frederic Amiel

We only understand that which already within us.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Order is power.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Sympathy is the first condition of criticism.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.
Henri Frederic Amiel

The best path through life is the highway.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Action is coarsened thought; thought becomes concrete, obscure, and unconscious.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one’s liberty.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Destiny has two ways of crushing us – by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.
Henri Frederic Amiel

So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.
Henri Frederic Amiel

For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will.
Henri Frederic Amiel

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature… is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life.
Henri Frederic Amiel

I’m not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You’re as old as you feel.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; it is calculation applied to life.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false.
Henri Frederic Amiel

Order is a great person’s need and their true well being.
Henri Frederic Amiel

If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.
Henri Frederic Amiel