I shall endeavour to enliven Morality with Wit, and to temper Wit with Morality, that my Readers may, if possible, both Ways find ...their Account in the Speculation of the Day.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There are two kinds of timidity--timidity of mind, and timidity of the nerves; physical timidity, and moral timidity. Each is inde...pendent of the other. The body may be frightened and quake while the mind remains calm and bold, and vice versë. This is the key to many eccentricities of conduct. When both kinds meet in the same man he will be good for nothing all his life.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The parents who wish to lead a quiet life I would say: Tell your children that they are very naughty--much naughtier than most chi...ldren; point to the young people of some acquaintances as models of perfection, and impress your own children with a deep sense of their own inferiority. You carry so many more guns than they do that they cannot fight you. This is called moral influence and it will enable you to bounce them as much as you please.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
... I want to live and be happy. I believe that we cannot be one or the other by pushing the absurd to all its consequences. I am ...like everyone. To feel liberated, I sometimes wish death on my loved ones, I covet the wives forbidden to me by the laws of family and friendship. To be logical, I should then kill or possess. But I judge that these vague ideas are unimportant. I everyone tried to put them to reality, we could neither live nor be happy.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The sense of doing good , the satisfaction of being right, the joy of looking favorably upon oneself, dear sir, are powerful lever...s for keeping us upright and making us progress. On the other hand, if men are deprived of that feeling, they are changed into rabid dogs.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »