My Blog

Tag: contradiction

  • 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)

  • 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)

  • Myself now and myself a while ago

    “Myself now and myself a while ago are indeed two; but when better, I simply cannot say. It would be fine to be old if we traveled only toward improvement. It is a drunkard’s motion, staggering, dizzy, wobbling, or that of reeds that the wind stirs haphazardly as it pleases.” III.9 “Of vanity” (p.895)

  • Languid motion

    “Stability itself is nothing but a more languid motion.”  III.2 “Of repentance” (p.740)  

  • On making essays

    “If my mind could gain a firm footing, I would not make essays, I would make decisions” III.2 “Of repentance” (p. 740)

  • On the world and its movement

    “The world is but a perennial movement. All things in it are in constant motion— the earth, the rocks of the Caucasus, the pyramids of Egypt— both with the common motion and with their own.” III.2 “Of repentance” (p.740)

  • Capable, even in ignorance

    “If a man is commonplace in conversation and rare in writing, that means that his capacity is in the place from which he borrows it, and not in himself. A learned man is not learned in all matters; but the capable man is capable in all matters, even in ignorance.” III.2 “Of repentance” (p. 741)

  • Evil means to a good end

    “However, the weakness of our condition often pushes us to the necessity of using evil means to a good end.” II. 23 “Of evil means employed to a good end” (p. 629)

  • Virtue presupposes difficulty

    “For it seems that the name of virtue presupposes difficulty and contrast, and that it cannot be exercised without opposition.” II.11 “Of cruelty” (p. 372)

  • All contradictions may be found in me

    “anyone who observes carefully can hardly find himself twice in the same state. … If I speak of myself in different ways, that is because I look at myself in different ways. All contradictions may be found in me by some twist and in some fashion. Bashful, insolent; chaste, lascivious; talkative, taciturn; tough, delicate; clever,…