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Henri-Frédéric Amiel
68 quotes
“There is but one thing needful — to possess God. All our senses, all our powers of mind and soul, all our external resources, are so many ways of approaching the divinity, so many modes of tasting and of adoring God. We must learn to detach ourselves from all that is capable of being lost, to bind ourselves absolutely only to what is absolute and eternal, and to enjoy the rest as a loan, as a usufruct....To worship, to comprehend, to receive, to feel, to give, to act: this our law, our duty, our happiness, our heaven.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 16 July 1848
“It gives liberty and breadth to thought, to learn to judge our own epoch from the point of view of universal history, history from the point of view of geological periods, geology from the point of view of astronomy.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 20 July 1848
“At bottom there is but one subject of study: the forms and metamorphoses of mind. All other subjects may be reduced to that; all other studies bring us back to this study.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 20 July 1848
“I have never felt any inward assurance of genius, or any presentiment of glory or of happiness. I have never seen myself in imagination great or famous, or even a husband, a father, an influential citizen. This indifference to the future, this absolute self-distrust, are, no doubt, to be taken as signs. What dreams I have are all vague and indefinite; I ought not to live, for I am now scarcely capable of living.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 May 1849
“Put personal ambition away from you, and then you will find consolation in living or in dying, whatever may happen to you.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 May 1849
“To be misunderstood even by those whom one loves is the cross and bitterness of life. It is the secret of that sad and melancholy smile on the lips of great men which so few understand; it is the cruelest trial reserved for self-devotion; it is what must have oftenest wrung the heart of the Son of man; and if God could suffer, it would be the wound we should be forever inflicting upon Him. He also — He above all — is the great misunderstood, the least comprehended.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 27 May 1849
“Christianity, if it is to triumph over pantheism, must absorb it. To our pusillanimous eyes Jesus would have borne the marks of a hateful pantheism, for he confirmed the Biblical phrase "ye are gods," and so would St. Paul, who tells us that we are of "the race of God." Our century wants a new theology — that is to say, a more profound explanation of the nature of Christ and of the light which it flashes upon heaven and upon humanity.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1 October 1849
“Heroism is the brilliant triumph of the soul over the flesh — that is to say, over fear: fear of poverty, of suffering, of calumny, of sickness, of isolation, and of death. There is no serious piety without heroism. Heroism is the dazzling and glorious concentration of courage.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1 October 1849
“Everything which is, is thought, but not conscious and individual thought. The human intelligence is but the consciousness of being. It is what I have formulated before: Everything is a symbol of a symbol, and a symbol of what? of mind.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 December 1850
“Spite is anger which is afraid to show itself, it is an impotent fury conscious of its impotence.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 December 1850
“To repel one's cross is to make it heavier.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 December 1850 [variant: 'shun' not 'repel']
“Whenever conscience speaks with a divided, uncertain, and disputed voice, it is not yet the voice of God. Descend still deeper into yourself, until you hear nothing but a clear and undivided voice, a voice which does away with doubt and brings with it persuasion, light and serenity.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1851 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 6 April 1851
“There is no repose for the mind except in the absolute; for feeling except in the infinite; for the soul except in the divine. Nothing finite is true, is interesting, is worthy to fix my attention. All that is particular is exclusive, and all that is exclusive repels me. There is nothing non-exclusive but the All; my end is communion with Being through the whole of Being.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1851 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 18 November 1851
“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-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1854 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 17 December 1854
“We must learn to look upon life as an apprenticeship to progressive renunciation, a perpetual diminution in our pretensions, our hopes, our powers, and our liberty.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1856 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 22 October 1856
“Without passion, man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1856 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 27 October 1856
“Liberty, equality — bad principles! The only true principle for humanity is justice; and justice to the feeble becomes necessarily protection or kindness.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Undated entry of December 1863 or early 1864
“The man who has no inner life is the slave of his surroundings.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1866 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 21 January 1866
“The spirit of sarcasm lives and thrives in the midst of universal wreck; its balls are enchanted and itself invulnerable, and it braves retaliations and reprisals because itself is a mere flash, a bodiless and magical nothing.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 16 February 1868
“Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind!”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 16 December 1868
“Society lives by faith, develops by reason.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7 May 1870
“If ignorance and passion are the foes of popular morality, it must be confessed that moral indifference is the malady of the cultivated classes. The modern separation of enlightenment and virtue, of thought and conscience, of the intellectual aristocracy from the honest and common crowd is the greatest danger that can threaten liberty.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 25 October 1870
“Never to tire, never to grow cold; to be patient, sympathetic, tender; to look for the budding flower and the opening heart; to hope always; like God, to love always—this is duty.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 27 May 1849
“To learn new habits is everything, for it is to reach the substance of life. Life is but a tissue of habits.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 December 1850
“Knowledge, love, power,—there is the complete life.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1851 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7 April 1851
“An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1852 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 26 December 1852
“Happiness has no limits, because God has neither bottom nor bounds, and because happiness is nothing but the conquest of God through love.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1853 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 27 October 1853
“Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1856 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 17 December 1856
“To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1856 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 17 December 1856
“Latent genius is but a presumption. Everything that can be, is bound to come into being, and what never comes into being is nothing.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1858 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 13 December 1858
“Order is man’s greatest need, and his true well-being.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 15 December [1859]
“Order means light and peace, inward liberty and free command over one’s self; order is power.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 15 December [1859]
“Liberty, equality,—bad principles! The only true principle for humanity is justice, and justice towards the feeble becomes necessarily protection or kindness.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 4 December 1863
“Only evil grows of itself, while for goodness we want effort and courage.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 16 November 1864
“To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest; we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction and vary the song.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 16 November 1864
“Happiness does away with ugliness, and even makes the beauty of beauty.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 April 1865
“In health there is liberty. Health is the first of all liberties, and happiness gives us the energy which is the basis of health.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 April 1865
“The more a man loves, the more he suffers. The sum of possible grief for each soul is in proportion to its degree of perfection.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1866 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7 January 1866
“Time is but the measure of the difficulty of a conception. Pure thought has scarcely any need of time, since it perceives the two ends of an idea almost at the same moment.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1866 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7 January 1866
“Religion is not a method, it is a life, a higher and supernatural life, mystical in its root and practical in its fruits; a communion with God, a calm and deep enthusiasm, a love which radiates, a force which acts, a happiness which overflows.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1866 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 28 April 1866
“Doubt is the accomplice of tyranny.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1866 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 December 1866
“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-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 17 March 1868
“Society rests upon conscience and not upon science.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 26 October 1870
“It is dangerous to abandon one’s self to the luxury of grief: it deprives one of courage, and even of the wish for recovery.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 29 December 1871
“Before giving advice we must have secured its acceptance, or, rather, have made it desired.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 29 December 1871
“Without faith a man can do nothing. But faith can stifle all science.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1872 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7 February 1872
“Woman is the salvation or destruction of the family. She carries its destinies in the folds of her mantle.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1872 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 11 December 1872
“Dreams are excursions into the limbo of things, a semi-deliverance from the human prison.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1872 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 December 1872
“Wisdom consists in rising superior both to madness and to common sense, and in lending one’s self to the universal delusion without becoming its dupe.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1872 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 11 December 1872
“Criticism is above all a gift, an intuition, a matter of tact and flair; it cannot be taught or demonstrated—it is an art.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881) first seen 1878 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 19 May 1878