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. Henri Frederic Amiel More Quotes by Henri Frederic Amiel More Quotes From Henri Frederic Amiel 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 Frederic Amiel two ideas needs 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 Frederic Amiel grief love men 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 Frederic Amiel husband dream father Only evil grows of itself, while for goodness we want effort and courage. Henri Frederic Amiel effort evil want 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 Frederic Amiel judging views giving I wonder whether I should gain anything by the attempt to assume a character which is not mine. My wavering manner, born of doubt and scruple, has at least the advantage of rendering all the different shades of my thought, and of being sincere. If it were to become terse, affirmative, resolute, would it not be a mere imitation? Henri Frederic Amiel shade doubt character The immense majority of our species are candidates for humanity, and nothing more. Henri Frederic Amiel species majority humanity Man is saved by love and duty, and by the hope that springs from duty, or rather from the moral facts of consciousness, as a flower springs from the soil. Henri Frederic Amiel flower spring men The musician of the present day, not being able to give us what is beautiful, torments himself to give us what is new. Henri Frederic Amiel musician beautiful giving 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 Frederic Amiel intuition criticism art 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 Frederic Amiel presumption latent genius Before giving advice we must have secured its acceptance, or, rather, have made it desired. Henri Frederic Amiel acceptance advice giving Order is man's greatest need, and his true well-being. Henri Frederic Amiel men order needs Each bud flowers but once and each flower has but its minute of perfect beauty; so, in the garden of the soul each feeling has, as it were, its flowering instant, its one and only moment of expansive grace and radiant kingship. Henri Frederic Amiel garden flower perfect A man without passion is only a latent force, only a possibility, like a stone waiting for the blow from the iron to give forth sparks. Henri Frederic Amiel passion blow men Men of genius supply the substance of history, while the mass of men are but the critical filter, the limiting, slackening, passive force needed for the modification of ideas supplied by genius. Henri Frederic Amiel filters men ideas Nature does at least what she can to translate into visible form the wealth of the creative formula. By the vastness of the abysses into which she penetrates, in the effort--the unsuccessful effort--to house and contain the eternal thought, we may measure the greatness of the divine mind. Henri Frederic Amiel effort greatness nature Peace is not in itself a dream, but we know it only as the result of a momentary equilibrium--an accident. Henri Frederic Amiel results dream peace If man was what he ought to be, he would be adored by the animals. Henri Frederic Amiel would-be animal men The soul may be immortal because she is fitted to rise towards that which is neither born nor dies, towards that which exists substantially, necessarily, invariably, that is to say towards God. Henri Frederic Amiel born soul may
