Henri Frederic Amiel
Henri Frederic Amiel
Henri Frédéric Amielwas a Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic...
NationalitySwiss
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth27 September 1821
CountrySwitzerland
humanity majority species
The immense majority of our species are candidates for humanity, and nothing more.
states consent compulsion
If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.
communication crowds contagion
Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion.
soul substance
The only substance properly so called is the soul.
inspirational teacher teaching
It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.
song teacher art
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.
apology atheism faults
Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults, a gigantic scaffolding whose object is to hide from us our favorite sin.
time ideas illusion
Time is the supreme illusion. It is but the inner prism by which we decompose being and life, the mode under which we perceive successively what is simultaneous in idea.
responsibility crosses
To shun one's cross is to make it heavier.
thinking mountain kind
Thought is a kind of opium; it can intoxicate us, while still broad awake; it can make transparent the mountains and everything that exists.
passion sacrifice law
Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies.
kindness fighting people
Pay bad people with your goodness; fight their hatred with your kindness. Even if you do not achieve a victory over other people, you will conquer yourself.
self soul tears
Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.
humility humble contentment
True humility is contentment.