Essays: First SeriesD. McKay, 1888 - 396 pages |
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Page 76
... talents and character they chance to see , -pain- fully recollecting the exact words they spoke ; afterwards , when they come into the point of view which those had who uttered these say- ings , they understand them , and are willing to ...
... talents and character they chance to see , -pain- fully recollecting the exact words they spoke ; afterwards , when they come into the point of view which those had who uttered these say- ings , they understand them , and are willing to ...
Page 92
... moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation ; but of the adopted talent of another , you have only an extemporaneous , half possession . That which each can do best , none but his Maker 92 ESSAY II .
... moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation ; but of the adopted talent of another , you have only an extemporaneous , half possession . That which each can do best , none but his Maker 92 ESSAY II .
Page 124
... on your time , your talents , or your heart . Always pay ; for , first or last , you must pay your entire debt . Per- sons and events may stand for a time between you and justice , but it is only a postponement 124 ESSAY III .
... on your time , your talents , or your heart . Always pay ; for , first or last , you must pay your entire debt . Per- sons and events may stand for a time between you and justice , but it is only a postponement 124 ESSAY III .
Page 129
... talents of men , until he has suf- fered from the one , and seen the triumph of the other over his own want of the same . Has he a defect of temper that unfits him to live in society ? Thereby he is driven to entertain himself alone ...
... talents of men , until he has suf- fered from the one , and seen the triumph of the other over his own want of the same . Has he a defect of temper that unfits him to live in society ? Thereby he is driven to entertain himself alone ...
Page 153
... talent is the call . There is one direction in which all space is open to him . He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion . He is like a ship in a river ; he runs against obstruc- tions on every side but one ...
... talent is the call . There is one direction in which all space is open to him . He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion . He is like a ship in a river ; he runs against obstruc- tions on every side but one ...
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Common terms and phrases
action affection appear beautiful soul beauty becomes behold better black event Bonduca Cæsar Calvinistic character child circle conversation divine doctrine Egypt Epaminondas eternal evanescent fact fear feel friendship genius gifts give Greek hand heart heaven Heraclitus heroism hour human instinct intel intellect less light live look lose man's marriage ment mind moral nature ness never noble object OVER-SOUL painted pass perception perfect persons Petrarch Phidias Phocion Pindar Plato Plotinus Plutarch poet poetry proverb prudence Pyrrhonism relations religion Rome sculpture secret seek seems seen sense sensual Shakspeare society Socrates Sophocles soul speak Spinoza spirit stand stoicism sweet talent teach thee things thou thought tion to-day true truth ture universal virtue whilst whole wisdom wise words Xenophon youth
Popular passages
Page 64 - A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.
Page 52 - There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance ; that imitation is suicide ; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion ; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.
Page 52 - A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
Page 75 - These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are ; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose ; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.
Page 128 - Some damning circumstance always transpires. The laws and substances of nature water, snow, wind, gravitation - become penalties to the thief. On the other hand, the law holds with equal sureness for all right action. Love, and you shall be loved. All love is mathematically just, as much as the two sides of an algebraic equation.
Page 78 - Why, then, do we prate of self-reliance ? Inasmuch as the soul is present, there will be power not confident but agent. To talk of reliance is a poor external way of speaking. Speak rather of that which relies, because it works and is.
Page 121 - As no man had ever a point of pride that was not injurious to him, so no man had ever a defect that was not somewhere made useful to him. The stag in the fable admired his horns and blamed his feet, but when the hunter came, his feet saved him, and afterwards, caught in the thicket, his horns destroyed him.
Page 60 - What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.
Page 53 - Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.
Page 81 - O father, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth's. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey no law less than the eternal law.