Henri Frederic Amiel
Henri Frederic Amiel
Henri Frédéric Amielwas a Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic...
NationalitySwiss
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth27 September 1821
CountrySwitzerland
men self might
At the bottom of the modern man there is always a great thirst for self-forgetfulness, self-distraction . . . and therefore he turns away from all those problems and abysses which might recall to him his own nothingness.
beautiful art kindness
The beautiful souls of the world have an art of saintly alchemy, by which bitterness is converted into kindness, the gall of human experience into gentleness, ingratitude into benefits, insults into pardon.
understanding firsts understood
To understand is to possess the thing understood, first by sympathy and then by intelligence.
atheist real errors
Emancipation from error is the condition of real knowledge.
health men doctors
The ideal doctor would be a man endowed with profound knowledge of life and of the soul, intuitively divining any suffering or disorder of whatever kind, and restoring peace by his mere presence.
soul growth important
The growth and development of the soul is more important than power and glory.
sadness joy pens
Sadness takes up the pen more readily than joy.
Every living being seeks instinctively to complete itself.
feelings soul mind
There is no repose for the mind except in the absolute; for feeling, except in the infinite; for the soul, except in the divine.
littles causes little-things
What we call little things are merely the causes of great things.
passion men truth-is
Men prefer the false due to habit, passion, will. Preference for truth is rare. Men are ruled by their fear of truth.
men voting
What governs men is the fear of truth.
philosophy doubt and-love
Philosophy starts with doubt and loves only truth.
chaos
Life alone can rekindle life.