quotes from classic

Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.

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I do not know everything; still many things I understand.

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Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable

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What we do not understand we do not possess.

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To rule is easy, to govern difficult. Government

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The true, prescriptive artist strives after artistic truth; the lawless artist, who follows blind instinct, strives to duplicate the reality o...

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One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

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Only law can give us freedom.

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Only those who must conquer them every day Deserve freedom as well as life.

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Music is either sacred or secular. The sacred agrees with its dignity, and here has its greatest effect on life, an effect that remains the same through all ages and epochs. Secular music should be cheerful throughout.

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Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.

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Tell me what you're laughing at and I shall tell you who you are.

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Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life.

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Since I have heard often enough that everyone in the end has his own religion, nothing seemed more natural to me than to fashion my own

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Nature is beneficent. I praise her and all her works. She is silent and wise. She is cunning, but for good ends. She has brought me here and will also lead me away. She may scold me, but she will not hate her work. I trust her.

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We usually lose today, because there has been a yesterday, and tomorrow is coming.

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Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world, for he knows how to introduce the former at fit place in conversation.

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Doubt grows with knowledge.

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Treat people as if they were what they should be, and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.

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Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.

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