Nov 15, 1741 - Jan 2, 1801
Swiss writer, theologian and poet, wrote in German.
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He who seldom speaks, and with one calm well-timed word can strike dumb the loquacious, is a genius or a hero.
He, who cannot forgive a trespass of malice to his enemy, has never yet tasted the most sublime enjoyment of love.
Say not you know another entirely till you have divided an inheritance with him.
The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time.
Trust him not with your secrets, who, when left alone in your room, turns over your papers.
I am prejudiced in favor of him who, without impudence, can ask boldly. He has faith in humanity, and faith in himself. No one who is not accustomed to giving grandly can ask nobly and with boldness.
Where there is much pretension, much has been borrowed; nature never pretends.
He submits to be seen through a microscope, who suffers himself to be caught in a fit of passion.
He who has no taste for order, will be often wrong in his judgment, and seldom considerate or conscientious in his actions.
He alone is an acute observer, who can observe minutely without being observed.
There are three classes of men; the retrograde, the stationary and the progressive.
Too much gravity argues a shallow mind.
Mistrust the man who finds everything good; the man who finds everything evil; and still more the man who is indifferent to everything.
If you wish to appear agreeable in society, you must consent to be taught many things which you know already.
Commemoration of Cecile Isherwood, Founder of the Community of the Resurrection, Grahamstown, South Africa, 1906 Continuing a short series on forgiveness: He who has not forgiven an enemy has not yet tasted one of the most sublime enjoyments of life.
Depend on no man, on no friend but him who can depend on himself. He only who acts conscientiously toward himself, will act so toward others.
He can feel no little wants who is in pursuit of grandeur.
Mistrust the man who finds everything good, the man who finds everything evil and still more the man who is indifferent to everything.
Beware of him who hates the laugh of a child.
He who reforms himself has done more toward reforming the public than a crowd of noisy, impotent patriots
He alone is an acute observer, who can observe minutely without being observed
Intuition is the clear conception of the whole at once.
Call him wise whose actions, words, and steps are all a clear because to a clear why.
Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action for all eternity.
You may tell a man thou art a fiend, but not your nose wants blowing; to him alone who can bear a thing of that kind, you may tell all.
