Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 24 “Of Pedantry” (1580) [tr....
All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not the science of goodness. [Toute autre science, est dommageable à celuy qui n’a la science de la bonté.] Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French...
View ArticleSarton, May -- Journal of a Solitary, “January 5th” (1973)
At some point I believe one has to stop holding back for fear of alienating some imaginary reader or real relative or friend, and come out with personal truth. If we are to understand the human...
View ArticleHomer -- The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 3, l. 96ff (3.96) (c. 700 BC) [tr. Pope...
And, oh! whate’er Heaven destined to betide, Let neither flattery soothe, nor pity hide. Prepared I stand: he was but born to try The lot of man; to suffer, and to die. [πέρι γάρ μιν ὀιζυρὸν τέκε...
View ArticleMartin, Judith -- “Polite Company: A Chat with Judith Martin About...
The other part of it is [the belief that] if we just totally opened our souls to one another, we would love one another and get along. This trivializes the fact that people have deep and...
View ArticleFranzblau, Rose -- Column, New York Post (1966)
“Honesty” without compassion and understanding is not honesty, but subtle hostility. Rose N. Franzblau (1930-1978) Austrian-American psychologist, author, columnistColumn, New York Post (1966)
View ArticleHarari, Yeval Noah -- “Why Fiction Trumps Truth,” New York Times (24 May 2019)
The truth is often painful and disturbing. Hence if you stick to unalloyed reality, few people will follow you. An American presidential candidate who tells the American public the truth, the whole...
View ArticleDe Stael, Germaine -- Quoted in Abel Stevens, Madame de Staël, Vol. 1, ch. 4...
Politeness is the art of choosing among one’s real thoughts. Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) Swiss-French writer, woman of letters, critic, salonist [Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, Madame de...
View ArticleBach, Richard -- Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, ch. 13,...
Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully. Richard Bach (b. 1936) American writerIllusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, ch. 13, epigraph (1977)
View ArticleRothfuss, Patrick -- The Name of the Wind, ch. 26 “Lanre Turned” (2007)
“All stories are true,” Skarpi said. “But this one really happened, if that’s what you mean.” He took another slow drink, then smiled again, his bright eyes dancing. “More or less. You have to be a bit...
View ArticleChamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la...
Preoccupation with money is the great test of small natures, but only a small test of great ones; there may be a wide gulf between a man who despises money and a genuinely honest man. [L’intérêt...
View ArticleMencken, H. L. -- A Little Book in C Major, ch. 1, § 10 (1916)
After a hard night of it two old friends fell into a sleepy conversation in the steam-room of a Turkish bath. “My wife loves me so much,” said one, “that she’ll believe me when I tell her I was kept...
View ArticleBaudelaire, Charles -- Journaux Intimes [Intimate Journals], “Mon cœur mis à...
The least vile of all merchants is he who says: “Let us be virtuous, since, thus, we shall gain much more money than the fools who are dishonest.” For the merchant, even honesty is a financial...
View ArticleCarlyle, Thomas -- “Goethe,” Foreign Review No. 3 (1828-08)
We are firm believers in the maxim that for all right judgment of any man or thing it is useful, nay, essential, to see his good qualities before pronouncing on his bad. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)...
View ArticleDante Alighieri -- The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 2 “Purgatorio,”...
But the power of a man’s will is often powerless: laughter and tears follow so close upon the passions that provoke them that the more sincere the man, the less they obey his will. [Ma non può tutto...
View ArticleJerome, Jerome K. -- Idler Magazine, “The Idler’s Club” column (1892-02)
Yes, it is always the best policy to speak the truth — unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar. Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome]Idler Magazine,...
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