-
No two opinions exactly alike
“Never did two men judge alike about the same thing, and it is impossible to find two opinions exactly alike, not only in different men, but in the same man at different times.” III.13 “Of experience” (p. 995)
-
Contraction of the mind
“There is no end to our researches; our end is in the other world. It is a sign of contraction of the mind when it is content, or of weariness. A spirited mind never stops within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength; it has impulses beyond its powers of achievement. If…
-
I have chosen to say what I know how to say
“I have chosen to say what I know how to say, accommodating the matter to my power. If I took a subject that would lead me along, I might not be able to measure up to it; with my freedom being so very free, I might publish judgements which, even according to my own opinion…
-
Desire for Knowledge
“There is no desire more natural than the desire for knowledge. We try all the ways that can lead us to it. When reason fails us, we use experience…which is a weaker and less dignified means.”III. 13 “Of experience” (p. 993)
-
Counterfeit of piety
“I know of no quality so easy to counterfeit as piety, if conduct and life are not made to conform with it.” III.2 “Of repentance” (p.748)
-
Diets
“I think it is healthier to eat more slowly and less, and to eat more often. But I want to make the most of appetite and hunger; I would take no pleasure in dragging out three or four puny meals a day, regulated as if I were taking medicine…Let us leave the daily diets to…
-
To fear suffering is to suffer
“He who fears he will suffer, already suffers from his fear.” III.13 Of experience (1023)
-
Health and habit
“Health for me is maintaining my accustomed state without disturbance…I cannot be hurt by the use of things that I have been so long accustomed to.” III.13 Of experience (p.1008)
-
Tough love
“We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly; and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship; for to undertake to wound and offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy…
-
To listen to ourselves
“The life of Caesar has no more to show us than our own; an emperor’s or an ordinary man’s, it is still a life subject to all human accidents. Let us only listen: we tell ourselves all we most need.” III.13 Of experience (p. 1001)