Quotations about:
    facade


Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.


If one’s thoughts were written on one’s face, many would need masks.

Minna Antrim
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
    (Source)
 
Added on 9-Dec-24 | Last updated 9-Dec-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Antrim, Minna

There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.
 
[Il y a des sottises bien habillées, comme il y a des sots très bien vêtus.]

Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 40 (1795) [tr. Hutchinson (1902), “The Cynic’s Breviary”]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

There is such a thing as well-clothed foolishness, just as there are certain very well-dressed fools.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

There are presentably dressed follies just as there are well dressed fools.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

There are some well-turned inanities, just as there are very well turned-out fools.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]

There is nonsense that is well said, just as there are fools who are very well dressed.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Foolishness can seem very smart and there are some very smartly dressed fools.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶34]

 
Added on 26-Nov-24 | Last updated 26-Nov-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Chamfort, Nicolas

Oh, you who read some song that I have sung,
What know you of the soul from whence it sprung?
Dost dream the poet ever speaks aloud
His secret thought unto the listening crowd?
Go take the murmuring sea-shell from the shore:
You have its shape, its color and no more.
It tells not one of those vast mysteries
That lie beneath the surface of the seas.
Our songs are shells, cast out by-waves of thought;
Here, take them at your pleasure; but think not
You’ve seen beneath the surface of the waves,
Where lie our shipwrecks and our coral caves.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
Poems of Passion, Epigraph (1883)
    (Source)
 
Added on 30-Oct-24 | Last updated 30-Oct-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

False greatness is unsociable and inaccessible; as it is sensible of its weakness, it conceals itself, or at least does not show itself openly, and only allows just so much to be seen as will carry on the deceit, so as not to appear what it really is, namely, undoubtedly mean. True greatness, on the contrary, is free, gentle, familiar, and popular; it allows itself to be touched and handled, loses nothing by being seen closely, and is the more admired the better it is known.
 
[La fausse grandeur est farouche et inaccessible: comme elle sent son faible, elle se cache, ou du moins ne se montre pas de front, et ne se fait voir qu’autant qu’il faut pour imposer et ne paraître point ce qu’elle est, je veux dire une vraie petitesse. La véritable grandeur est libre, douce, familière, populaire; elle se laisse toucher et manier, elle ne perd rien à être vue de près; plus on la connaît, plus on l’admire.]

Jean de La Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 2 “Of Personal Merit [Du Mérite Personnel],” § 42 (2.42) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

False Greatness is unsociable, inaccessible, as if 'twere sensible of its weakness, and strove to conceal it. 'Twill not be seen, except just so much, as may carry on the Deceit, but dares not shew its Face for fear of being discover'd: Discover'd how really little and mean it is. True Greatness, on the contrary, is free, complaisant, familiar, popular, suffers it self to be touch'd and handl'd, loses nothing by being view'd near at hand, is rather more known and admir'd for it.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

False greatness is unsociable and remote: conscious of its own frailty, it hides, or at least averts its face, and reveals itself only enough to create an illusion and not be recognized as the meanness that it really is. True greatness is free, kind, familiar and popular; it lets itself be touched and handled, it loses nothing by being seen at close quarters; the better one knows it, the more one admires it.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]

 
Added on 13-Aug-24 | Last updated 13-Aug-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by La Bruyere, Jean de

HYPOCRITE, n. One who, professing virtues that he does not respect, secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Hypocrite,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
    (Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1885-08-22).
 
Added on 13-Aug-24 | Last updated 13-Aug-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Bierce, Ambrose

And, after all, what is a lie? ‘T is but
The truth in masquerade; and I defy
Historians, heroes, lawyers. priests, to put
A fact without some leaven of a lie.

Lord Byron
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Don Juan, Canto 11, st. 37 (1823)
    (Source)
 
Added on 7-Aug-24 | Last updated 7-Aug-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Byron, George Gordon, Lord

The surest way to get a reputation as a liar is to pretend to be very good. The next surest way is to pretend to be very wicked.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Little Book in C Major, ch. 2, § 7 (1916)
    (Source)

Variants:

LlAR. (a) One who pretends to be very good; (b) one who pretends to be very bad.
[A Book of Burlesques, "The Jazz Webster" (1924)]

Liar — (a) One who pretends to be very good; (b) one who pretends to be very bad.
[Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)]

 
Added on 1-Aug-24 | Last updated 1-Aug-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Mencken, H. L.

All is not gold that glisters.

George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 306 (1640 ed.)
    (Source)

Usually modernized as "All that glitters is not gold."

See Shakespeare, Tolkien.
 
Added on 12-Jul-24 | Last updated 12-Jul-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Herbert, George

In great actions men show themselves as they ought to be, in small actions as they are.

[Dans les grandes choses, les hommes se montrent comme il leur convient de se montrer; dans les petites, ils se montrent comme ils sont.]

Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 52 (1795) [tr. Hutchinson (1902), “The Cynic’s Breviary”]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

In great matters men show themselves as they ought; in little, as they are.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

In affairs of importance, men show themselves at their best advantage; in small matters they are seen as they are.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

In great things, men show themselves as they want to be seen; and in little ones they show themselves as they are.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

In important matters, men display themselves as they want to be seen; in minor matters as they really are.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶45]

 
Added on 3-Jun-24 | Last updated 3-Jun-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Chamfort, Nicolas

The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant, systematic duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. Your nervous system isn’t a fiction, it’s a part of your physical body, and your soul exists in space and is inside you, like the teeth in your head. You can’t keep violating it with impunity.

Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 2, ch. 15 “Conclusion,” sec. 6 [Yury] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed.]
    (Source)

Alternate translations:

The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant, systematic duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. Our nervous system isn’t just a fiction, it’s a part of our physical body, and our soul exists in space and is inside us, like the teeth in our mouth. It can’t be forever violated with impunity.
[tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), US ed.]

A constant, systematic dissembling is required of the vast majority of us. It’s impossible, without its affecting your health, to show yourself day after day contrary to what you feel, to lay yourself out for what you don’t love, to rejoice over what brings you misfortune. Our nervous system is not an empty sound, not a fiction. It’s a physical body made up of fibers. Our soul takes up room in space and sits inside us like the teeth in our mouth. It cannot be endlessly violated with impunity.
[tr. Pevear & Volokhonsky (2010)]

 
Added on 14-May-24 | Last updated 14-May-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Pasternak, Boris

There is something laughable about the sight of authors who enjoy the rustling folds of long and involved sentences: they are trying to cover up their feet.

[Man hat Etwas zum Lachen, diese Schriftsteller zu sehen, welche die faltigen Gewänder der Periode um sich rauschen machen: sie wollen so ihre Füsse verdecken.]

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
The Gay Science [Die fröhliche Wissenschaft], Book 4, § 282 (1882) [tr. Kaufmann (1974)]
    (Source)

Also known as La Gaya Scienza, The Joyful Wisdom, or The Joyous Science.

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

It is something laughable to see those writers who make the folding robes of their periods rustle around them: they want to cover their feet.
[tr. Common (1911)]

There is something laughable about those writers who make the folded drapery of their period rustle around them; they want to hide their feet.
[tr. Hill (2018)]

 
Added on 3-May-24 | Last updated 3-May-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Nietzsche, Friedrich

To discern faults, though they be in fashion: Though Vice be clothed in cloth of gold, yet a good man will still know it. It is to no purpose for it to be apparelled in gold, it can never so well disguise it self but that it will be perceived to be of iron. It would cloak it self with the nobility of its Adherents, but it is never stript of its baseness, nor the misery of its slavery.

[Conocer los defectos, por más autorizados que estén. No desconozca la entereza el vicio, aunque se revista de brocado; corónase tal vez de oro, pero no por eso puede disimular el yerro. No pierde la esclavitud de su vileza aunque se desmienta con la nobleza del sujeto.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 186 (1647) [Flesher ed. (1685)]
    (Source)

(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:

Recognise Faults, however high placed. Integrity cannot mistake vice even when clothed in brocade or perchance crowned with gold, but will not be able to hide its character for all that. Slavery does not lose its vileness, however it vaunt the nobility of its lord and master.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]

Know what is evil, however much worshiped it may be. Let the man of intelligence not fail to recognize it, even if clothed in brocade, or crowned with gold, because it cannot thereby hide its bane, -- slavery does not lose its infamy, however noble the master.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]

Know when something is a defect, even if it looks like the opposite. Honesty should be able to recognize vice even when it dresses in brocade. Sometimes it wears a crown of gold, but even then it cannot hide its iron. Slavery is just as vile when disguised by high position.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]

 
Added on 11-Mar-24 | Last updated 11-Mar-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Gracián, Baltasar

Our virtues are usually only vices in disguise.

[Nos vertus ne sont le plus souvent que des vices déguisés]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], Epigraph (1675 ed.) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
    (Source)

Added as an epigraph to the entire work in the 4th (1675) edition. A common theme in La Rochefoucauld's work, and variations of this maxim (and related thoughts) had been in the preceding editions and even this and later (see also ¶442).

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Our Vertues are oftentimes in Reality no better than Vices disguised.
[tr. Stanhope (1694)]

Our virtues are most frequently but vices disguised.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]

Our virtues are mostly but vices in disguise.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]

Our virtues, most often, are only vices disguised.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]

 
Added on 16-Feb-24 | Last updated 16-Feb-24
Link to this post | 1 comment
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by La Rochefoucauld, Francois

As favour and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
 
[À mesure que la faveur et les grands biens se retirent d’un homme, ils laissent voir en lui le ridicule qu’ils couvraient, et qui y était sans que personne s’en aperçût.]

Jean de La Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 6 “Of Gifts of Fortune [Des Biens de Fortune],” § 4 (6.4) (1688) [tr. Van Laun (1885)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

When Riches and Favour forsake a Man, we see presently he was a Fool, but no body could find it out in his Prosperity.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

In proportion as Riches and Favour forsake a Man, we discover he was a Fool, which no body cou'd find out in his Prosperity.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

As Riches and Favour forsake a Man, we discover him to be a Fool, but no body could find it out in his Prosperity.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

As a man falls out of favour and his wealth declines, we discover for the first time the ridiculous aspects of his character, which were always there but which wealth and favour had concealed.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]

 
Added on 6-Feb-24 | Last updated 6-Feb-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by La Bruyere, Jean de

If you are foolish enough to be contented, don’t show it, but grumble with the rest; and if you can do with a little, ask for a great deal. Because if you don’t you won’t get any.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome]
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, “On Getting On in the World” (1886)
    (Source)

First published in Home Chimes (1885-01-24).
 
Added on 5-Dec-23 | Last updated 18-Nov-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Jerome, Jerome K.

There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.

Jane Austen
Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Pride and Prejudice, ch. 24 [Elizabeth] (1813)
    (Source)
 
Added on 28-Sep-23 | Last updated 28-Sep-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Austen, Jane

There was a time when all these things would have passed me by, like the flitting figures of a theatre, sufficient for the amusement of an hour. But now, I have lost the power of looking merely on the surface. Everything seems to me to come from the Infinite, to be filled with the Infinite, to be tending toward the Infinite. Do I see crowds of men hastening to extinguish a fire? I see not merely uncouth garbs, and fantastic, flickering lights, of lurid hue, like a trampling troop of gnomes — but straightway my mind is filled with thoughts about mutual helpfulness, human sympathy, the common bond of brotherhood, and the mysteriously deep foundations on which society rests; or rather, on which it now reels and totters.

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) American abolitionist, activist, journalist, suffragist
Letters from New-York, # 1, 1841-08-19 (1843)
    (Source)
 
Added on 12-Apr-23 | Last updated 12-Apr-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Child, Lydia Maria

She weeps not for her sire if none be near,
In company she calls up many a tear.
True mourners would not have their sorrows known,
For grief of heart will choose to weep alone.

[Amissum non flet cum sola est Gellia patrem,
Si quis adest, iussae prosiliunt lacrimae.
Non luget quisquis laudari, Gellia, quaerit,
Ille dolet vere, qui sine teste dolet.]

Marcus Valerius Martial
Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 1, epigram 33 (1.33) (AD 85-86) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]
    (Source)

"On Gellia." (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Gellia ne'er mourns her father's loss,
When no one's by to see,
but yet her soon commanded tears
Flow in society:
To weep for praise is but a feigned moan;
He grieves most truly, that does grieve alone.
[tr. Fletcher (1656)]

When all alone, your tears withstand;
In company, can floods command.
Who mourns for fashion, bids us mark;
Who mourns indeed, mourns in the dark.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]

Gellia alone, alas! can never weep,
Though her fond father perish'd in the deep;
With company the tempest all appears
And beauteous Gellia's e'en dissolved in tears.
Through public grief though Gellia aims at praise,
'Tis private sorrow which must merit raise.
[Gentleman's Magazine (1736)]

Her father dead! -- Alone no grief she knows;
Th' obedient tear at every visit flows.
No mourner he, who must with praise be fee'd!
But he, who mourns in secret, mourns indeed.
[tr. Hay (1755), 1.34]

Sire-reft, alone, poor Gellia weeps no woe:
In company she bids the torrent flow.
they cannot grieve, who to be seen, can cry:
Theirs is the grief, who without witness sigh.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 6, Part 3, ep. 1]

Gellia, when she is alone, does not lament the loss of her father. If any one be present, her bidden tears gush forth. A person does not grieve who seeks for praise; his is real sorrow who grieves without a witness.
[tr. Amos (1858), #95 "Feigned Tears"]

Gellia does not mourn for her deceased father, when she is alone; but if any one is present, obedient tears spring forth. He mourns not, Gellia, who seeks to be praised; he is the true mourner, who mourns without a witness.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

He grieves not much who grieves to merit praise;
His grief is real who grieves in solitude.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

Gellia weeps not while she is alone for her lost father; is any one be present, her tears leap forth at her bidding. He does not lament who looks, Gellia for praise;' he truly sorrows who sorrows unseen.
[tr. Ker (1919)]

Gellia, alone, ne'er weeps her sire at all;
In company the bidden tears down fall.
True grief is not for admiration shown.
He only weeps indeed, who weeps alone.
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), #18, 1.32]

When alone, Gellia never cries for the father she lost.
If someone is with her, tears well up in her eyes,
as if ordered to fall in. If some one looks for praise,
he is not in mourning, Gellia.
He truly mourns
who mourns
alone.
[tr. Bovie (1970)]

In private she mourns not the late-lamented;
If someone's by her tears leap forth on call.
Sorry, my dear, is not so easily rented.
They are true tears that without witness fall.
[tr. Cunningham (1971)]

Gellia does not cry for her lost father when she's by herself, but if she has company, out spring the tears to order. Gellia, whoever seeks credit for mourning is no mourner. He truly grieves who grieves without witnesses.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

Gellia's mourning for her father?
If by herself she doesn't bother.
But when she sees that company lurks
She opens up the waterworks.
She just wants praise for grief that's shown;
They truly grieve who weep alone.
[tr. Ericsson (1995)]

When Janet is sequestered, out of view,
Then never for her father's death she cries.
But let some viewers come, just one or two,
Then tears dramatically flood her eyes.
We know from this how sad in fact she's been:
It is not grief that's only grieved when seen.
[tr. Wills (2007)]

Gellia doesn't weep for her dead father
when she's alone, but tears pour on command
if someone comes. Who courts praise isn't mourning --
he truly grieves who grieves with none at hand.
[tr. McLean (2014)]

Alone, Gellia never weeps over her father's death;
if someone's there, her tears burst forth at will.
Mourning that looks for praise, Gellia, is not grief:
true sorrow grieves unseen.
[tr. Powell]

 
Added on 3-Mar-23 | Last updated 27-Nov-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Martial

I was ashamed of myself when I realized life was a costume party, and I attended with my real face.

Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
(Attributed)

Widely attributed to Kafka, but a search has found no actual sourcing for the quotation. I consider it dubious.
 
Added on 3-Jan-23 | Last updated 17-Jul-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Kafka, Franz

The difference between narcissism and self-love is a matter of depth. Narcissus falls in love not with the self, but with an image or reflection of the self — with the persona, the mask. The narcissist sees himself through the eyes of another, changes his lifestyle to conform with what is admired by others, tailors his behavior and expression of feelings to what will please others. Narcissism is eye trouble, voluntary blindness, an agreement to keep up appearances (hence the importance of “style”) and not to look beneath the surface.

Sam Keen
Sam Keen (b. 1931) American author, professor, philosopher
The Passionate Life, ch. 8 (1983)
    (Source)
 
Added on 11-Nov-22 | Last updated 11-Nov-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Keen, Sam

A man who parades his piety is one who, under an atheist king, would be an atheist.

[Un dévot est celui qui, sous un roi athée, serait athée.]

Jean de La Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 13 “Of the Fashion [De la Mode],” § 21 (13.21) (1688)
    (Source)

La Bruyère notes in the original this refers to a "faux dévot."

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

An Hypocrite is one that will be an Atheist under a King that is so.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

A Devote is one, that under a King who was an Atheist, would be a Devote.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

A Devoto is one, that under an atheistical King wouild be an Atheist.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

A pious person is one who, under an atheistical king, would be an atheist.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

A pious hypocrite is one who, under an atheistic king, would be an atheist.
[tr. Stewart (1970)]

 
Added on 8-Nov-22 | Last updated 6-Jun-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by La Bruyere, Jean de

Good manners without sincerity are like a beautiful dead lady.

Yukiteswar
Sri Yukteswar Giri (1855-1936) Indian monk, yogi, guru [श्रीयुक्तेश्वर गिरि, b. Priya Nath Karar]
In Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 12 (1946)
    (Source)
 
Added on 24-Oct-22 | Last updated 24-Oct-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Sri Yukteswar Giri

We must realize that man’s nature will remain the same so long as he remains man; that civilization is but a slight coverlet beneath which the dominant beast sleeps lightly and ever ready to awake.

H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) American fabulist [Howard Phillips Lovecraft]
“At the Root,” The United Amateur (Jul 1918)
 
Added on 27-Jul-22 | Last updated 27-Jul-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Lovecraft, H. P.

Politics: a Trojan horse race.

Stanislaw Lec (1909-1966) Polish aphorist, poet, satirist
More Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane nowe] (1964) [tr. Gałązka (1969)]
    (Source)
 
Added on 1-Mar-22 | Last updated 1-Mar-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Lec, Stanislaw

Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Common Courtesy, “In the Quest for Equality, Civilization Itself Is Maligned” (1985)
    (Source)

Originally published in The New Republic in 1984.
 
Added on 3-Aug-21 | Last updated 15-Apr-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Martin, Judith

Many perform the foulest deeds and rehearse the fairest words.

[Πολλοὶ δρῶντες τὰ αἴσχιστα λόγους ἀρίστους ἀσκέουσιν.]

Democritus (c. 460 BC - c. 370 BC) Greek philosopher
Frag. 53a (Diels) [tr. Barnes (1987)]
    (Source)

Diels citation "53a. (122 b N.) DEMOKRATES. 19.2. (Stob. II, 15, 33)" Bakewell lists this under "The Golden Sayings of Democritus." Freeman notes this as one of the Gnômae, from a collection called "Maxims of Democratês," but because Stobaeus quotes many of these as "Maxims of Democritus," they are generally attributed to the latter.

Alternate translations:

  • "Many who do the basest deeds can make most learned speeches." [tr. Bakewell (1907)]
  • "Many whose actions are most disgraceful practise the best utterances." [tr. Freeman (1948)].
  • "Many who do the worst things prepare the best speeches." [@sentantiq (2020), fr. 54]
 
Added on 9-Mar-21 | Last updated 9-Mar-21
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Democritus

Few are those who wish to be endowed with virtue rather than to seem so.

[Virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse quam videri volunt.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Laelius De Amicitia [Laelius on Friendship], ch. 26 / sec. 98 (44 BC)

Common translation. Alternates:

  • "For not so many desire to be endowed with virtue itself, as to seem to be so." [tr. Edmonds (1871)]
  • "For there are not so many possessed of virtue as there are that desire to seem virtuous." [tr. Peabody (1887)]
  • "For many wish not so much to be, as to seem to be, endowed with real virtue." [tr. Falconer (1923)]
 
Added on 8-Mar-21 | Last updated 11-Aug-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Cicero, Marcus Tullius

Wit is cultured insolence.

[ἡ γὰρ εὐτραπελία πεπαιδευμένη ὕβρις ἐστίν.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Rhetoric [Ῥητορική; Ars Rhetorica], Book 2, ch. 12, sec. 16 (2.12.16) / 1389b.11 (350 BC) [tr. Freese (1926)]
    (Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

  • "Wit is a refined petulance." [Source (1847)]

  • "Facetiousness is chastened forwardness of manner." [tr. Buckley (1850)]

  • "Wit is educated insolence." [tr. Jebb (1873)]

  • "Wit being well-bred insolence." [tr. Roberts (1924)]

  • "Wittiness is educated insolence." [tr. Bartlett (2019)]

 
Added on 5-Mar-21 | Last updated 1-Feb-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Aristotle

Glamour. Elves are beautiful. They’ve got style. Beauty. Grace. That’s what matters. If cats looked like frogs we’d realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That’s what people remember.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Lords and Ladies [Granny Weatherwax] (1992)
    (Source)
 
Added on 2-Feb-21 | Last updated 6-Sep-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Pratchett, Terry

RESPECTABILITY, n. The social status of people whose sins haven’t quite caught up with them.

Edmund H. Volkart (1919-1992) American sociologist, researcher, editor
The Angel’s Dictionary: A Modern Tribute to Ambrose Bierce (1986)
 
Added on 28-Apr-20 | Last updated 28-Apr-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Volkart, Edmund H.

I make this distinkshun between charakter and reputashun — reputashun iz what the world thinks ov us, charakter is what the world knows of us.

[I make this distinction between character and reputation — reputation is what the world thinks of us, character is what the world knows of us.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, “Lobstir Sallad” (1874)
    (Source)
 
Added on 2-Apr-20 | Last updated 2-Apr-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Billings, Josh

Judge nothing by the appearance. The more beautiful the serpent, the more fatal its sting.

No picture available
William Scott Downey (fl. 19th C) American baptist missionary, aphorist
Proverbs, ch. 6, #8 (1853)
    (Source)
 
Added on 11-Feb-20 | Last updated 11-Feb-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Downey, William Scott

The world oftener rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #312 (1665-1678)
    (Source)
 
Added on 12-Nov-19 | Last updated 12-Nov-19
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by La Rochefoucauld, Francois

The surface of American society is, if I may use the expression, covered with a layer of democracy, from beneath which the old aristocratic colors sometimes peep.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, ch. 2 (1835) [tr. Reeve (1899)]
    (Source)

    Alt. trans.:
  • As above, but given as "... sometimes seep."
  • "American society, if I may put it this way, is like a painting that is democratic on the surface but from time to time allows the old acistocratic colors to peep through." [tr. Goldhammer (2004)]
  • "The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colors breaking through."
 
Added on 12-Sep-18 | Last updated 3-Jul-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Tocqueville, Alexis de

The reward for conformity was that everyone liked you but yourself.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Venus Envy, ch. 15 (1993)
    (Source)

Often paraphrased in the present tense: "The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you but yourself."
 
Added on 2-Apr-18 | Last updated 2-Apr-18
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Brown, Rita Mae

There are no grades of vanity, there are only grades of ability in concealing it.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Note (1898-07-04)), Mark Twain’s Notebook, ch. 21 “In Vienna” (1935) [ed. Albert Bigelow Paine]
    (Source)

While summering in Kaltenleutgeben, Austria.
 
Added on 21-Jul-17 | Last updated 3-Jul-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Twain, Mark

The only people who can still strike us as normal are those we don’t yet know very well.

Alain de Botton (b. 1969) Swiss-British author
The Course of Love, “Irreconcilable Desires” (2016)
    (Source)
 
Added on 20-Jul-17 | Last updated 20-Jul-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by De Botton, Alain

It had snowed in the night, and the world looked very clean, which I knew it not to be. But illusion is nice sometimes.

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Painted Ladies, ch. 22 (2010)
    (Source)
 
Added on 12-Jul-17 | Last updated 12-Jul-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Parker, Robert

We’re animals. We’re born like every other mammal and we live our whole lives around disguised animal thoughts.

Barbara Kingsolver (b. 1955) American novelist, essayist, poet
Animal Dreams (1990)
 
Added on 10-Jul-17 | Last updated 10-Jul-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Kingsolver, Barbara

No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet I am sure that there is greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Economy” (1854)
    (Source)
 
Added on 3-May-17 | Last updated 17-May-17
Link to this post | 5 comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Thoreau, Henry David

She smoothed her hair back from her forehead and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like she always looked. It was probably a truth about tragedy, she thought, while the tragedy is going on people look pretty much the way they looked when it wasn’t.

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Thin Air (1995)
 
Added on 3-May-17 | Last updated 3-May-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Parker, Robert

Every man has three characters — that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.

Alphonse Karr
Alphonse Karr (1808-1890) French journalist and novelist
A Tour Round My Garden [Voyage autour de mon jardin] (1851)
    (Source)
 
Added on 25-Apr-17 | Last updated 2-May-17
Link to this post | 2 comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Karr, Alphonse

Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.

sunday-church-christian-garage-automobile-wist_info-quote

William Ashley "Billy" Sunday (1862-1935) American athlete, evangelist, preacher
In William T. Ellis, “Billy” Sunday, The Man and his Message, ch. 12 (1914)
 
Added on 14-Oct-16 | Last updated 14-Oct-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Sunday, Billy

Great robbers always resemble honest folk. Fellows who have rascally faces have only one course to take, and that is to remain honest; otherwise, they would be arrested off-hand.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) French novelist, poet, playwright
Around the World in Eighty Days, ch. 6 (1873)
    (Source)
 
Added on 23-Sep-16 | Last updated 23-Sep-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Verne, Jules

As with most things in life, Lady Maccon preferred the civilized exterior to the dark underbelly (with the exception of pork products, of course).

Gail Carriger (b. 1976) American archaeologist, author [pen name of Tofa Borregaard]
Heartless (2011)
 
Added on 15-Sep-16 | Last updated 15-Sep-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Carriger, Gail

Are all men in disguise except those crying?

Abse - all men in disguise - wist_info quote

Daniel "Dannie" Abse (1923-2014) Welsh poet
“Encounter at a greyhound bus station” (1986)
 
Added on 19-Aug-16 | Last updated 19-Aug-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Abse, Dannie

A cheerful, easy countenance and behavior are very useful: they make fools think you a good-natured man, and they make designing men think you an undesigning one.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #298, enclosed maxims (15 Jan 1758)
    (Source)

Labeled as letter #297 in the linked source, but #298 in the volume I am using as reference, which does not include the maxims.
 
Added on 5-Aug-16 | Last updated 11-Oct-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Chesterfield (Lord)

We know so little about each other. We lie mostly submerged, like ice floes, with our visible social selves projecting only cool and white.

McEwan - cool and white - wist_info quote

Ian McEwan (b. 1948) English novelist and screenwriter
Amsterdam (1998)
 
Added on 26-Jul-16 | Last updated 26-Jul-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by McEwan, Ian

Since unhappiness excites interest, many, in order to render themselves interesting, feign unhappiness.

Joseph Roux
Joseph Roux (1834-1886) French Catholic priest
Meditations of a Parish Priest: Thoughts, ch. 5, #24 (1886)
    (Source)
 
Added on 2-May-16 | Last updated 2-May-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Roux, Joseph

Many men and many women enjoy popular esteem, not because they are known, but because they are not.

Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
(Attributed)
    (Source)

Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou, Notable Thoughts About Women, #3144 (1882).
 
Added on 27-Apr-16 | Last updated 27-Apr-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Chamfort, Nicolas

Always behave as if nothing had happened, no matter what has happened.

Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) English writer, novelist, journalist
Denry the Audacious, ch. 10 “His Infamy” (1911)
 
Added on 29-Mar-16 | Last updated 29-Mar-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Bennett, Arnold

The methods now being used to merchandise the political candidate as though he were a deodorant positively guarantee the electorate against ever hearing the truth about anything.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Brave New World Revisited (1958)
 
Added on 25-Mar-16 | Last updated 18-Mar-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Huxley, Aldous

I don’t mind hidden depths but I insist that there be a surface.

James Nicoll (b. 1961) Canadian reviewer, editor
LiveJournal post (17 Aug 2005)
    (Source)
 
Added on 22-Feb-16 | Last updated 22-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Nicoll, James

Be wiser than other people, if you can; but do not tell them so.

Chesterfield - be wiser - wist_info

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #104 (29 Nov 1745)
    (Source)
 
Added on 18-Nov-15 | Last updated 12-Oct-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Chesterfield (Lord)

In short, we can judge by nothing but Appearances, and they are very apt to deceive us. Some put on a gay chearful Outside, and appear to the World perfectly at Ease, tho’ even then, some inward Sting, some secret Pain imbitters all their Joys, and makes the Balance even: Others appear continually dejected and full of Sorrow; but even Grief itself is sometimes pleasant, and Tears are not always without their Sweetness: Besides, Some take a Satisfaction in being thought unhappy, (as others take a Pride in being thought humble,) these will paint their Misfortunes to others in the strongest Colours, and leave no Means unus’d to make you think them thoroughly miserable; so great a Pleasure it is to them to be pitied; Others retain the Form and outside Shew of Sorrow, long after the Thing itself, with its Cause, is remov’d from the Mind; it is a Habit they have acquir’d and cannot leave.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
“A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity” (1725)
    (Source)
 
Added on 11-Aug-15 | Last updated 11-Aug-15
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Franklin, Benjamin

Virtue and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value: but if they are not polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their lustre; and even polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold.

Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #118 (6 Mar 1747)
    (Source)
 
Added on 9-Feb-15 | Last updated 13-Oct-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Chesterfield (Lord)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 Peter 3:3-4 [NIV (2011 ed.)]
    (Source)

Alternate translations:

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
[KJV (1611)]

Do not dress up for show: doing up your hair, wearing gold bracelets and fine clothes; all this should be inside, in a person’s heart, imperishable: the ornament of a sweet and gentle disposition -- this is what is precious in the sight of God.
[JB (1966)]

You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear. Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God's sight.
[GNT (1976)]

Your adornment should be not an exterior one, consisting of braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothing, but the interior disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and peaceful spirit, so precious in the sight of God.
[NJB (1985)]

Don’t try to make yourselves beautiful on the outside, with stylish hair or by wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes. Instead, make yourselves beautiful on the inside, in your hearts, with the enduring quality of a gentle, peaceful spirit. This type of beauty is very precious in God’s eyes.
[CEB (2011)]

Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

 
Added on 24-Dec-14 | Last updated 2-Jul-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Bible, vol. 2, New Testament

Beauty is only skin-deep.

Thomas Adams (1583–1653) English Calvinist clergyman and preacher
The Blacke Devill or the Apostate (1615)
 
Added on 26-Nov-14 | Last updated 26-Nov-14
Link to this post | 1 comment
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Adams, Thomas

The wacky thing about those bad guys is that you can’t count on them to be obvious. They forget to wax their mustaches and goatees, leave their horns at home, send their black hats to the dry cleaners. They’re funny like that.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
White Night (2007)
 
Added on 25-Nov-14 | Last updated 25-Nov-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Butcher, Jim

If I try to be like him, who will be like me?

(Other Authors and Sources)
Yiddish proverb
 
Added on 21-Nov-14 | Last updated 21-Nov-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by ~Other

Never believe in a meritocracy in which no one is funny-looking.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden (b. 1956) American editor, writer, essayist
Making Light, “Commonplaces”
    (Source)
 
Added on 25-Sep-14 | Last updated 25-Sep-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Hayden, Teresa Nielsen

Whatever may be the success of my stories, I shall be resolute in preserving my incognito, having observed that a nom de plume secures all the advantages without the disagreeables of reputation.

George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
Letter to William Blackwood (4 Feb 1857)
 
Added on 12-Sep-14 | Last updated 12-Sep-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Eliot, George

Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess, and to gain applause which he cannot keep.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #189 (7 Jan 1752)
    (Source)
 
Added on 18-Aug-14 | Last updated 26-Jun-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Johnson, Samuel

MOROCCO: All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told.

Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Merchant of Venice, Act 2, sc. 7, l. 73ff [Morocco] (1597)
    (Source)

Usually modernized as "All that glitters is not gold."

See Herbert.
 
Added on 1-Aug-14 | Last updated 12-Jul-24
Link to this post | 1 comment
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Shakespeare, William

No one shows himself as he is, but wears his mask and plays his part. Indeed, the whole of our social arrangements may be likened to a perpetual comedy; and this is why a man who is worth anything finds society so insipid, while a blockhead is quite at home in it.

[Allerdings zeigt Keiner sich wie er ist, sondern Jeder trägt eine Maske und spielt eine Rolle. — Ueber­ haupt ist das ganze gesellschaftliche Leben ein fortwährendes Komödienspielen. Dies macht es gehaltvollen Leuten insipid; während Plattköpfe sich so recht darin gefallen.]

Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 26 “Psychological Observations [Psychologische Bemerkungen],” § 315 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
    (Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

It is quite certain that no one shows himself as he is, but that each wears a mask and plays a role. In general, the whole of social life is a continual comedy, which the worthy find insipid, whilst the stupid delight in it greatly.
[tr. Dircks (1897)]

No one reveals himself as he is; we all wear a mask and play a role.
[tr. Hollingdale (1970)]

It is certain that no one shows himself as he is, but everyone wears a mask and plays a part. Generally speaking, the whole of our social life is the continuous performance of a comedy. This renders it insipid for men of substances and merit, whereas blockheads take a real delight in it.
[tr. Payne (1974)]

 
Added on 25-Jul-14 | Last updated 29-Mar-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Schopenhauer, Arthur

Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
Great Expectations, ch 40 (1861)
 
Added on 25-Apr-14 | Last updated 25-Apr-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Dickens, Charles

Appearances are deceptive.

Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Wolf in Sheep Clothing” (6th C BC) [tr. Jacobs (1894)]
    (Source)

Alternately, "Appearances often are deceiving." Versified by Gaius Julius Phaedrus, Fables bk. 4, as "Things are not always what they seem."

Note that there are two fables by this name. In this one, a wolf prospers by wearing a sheepskin he finds and drawing other sheep away to be eaten. In other versions, the wolf sneaks into the sheepfold wearing the skin, and then is killed and eaten by the farmer who wants sheep for dinner.
 
Added on 14-Mar-14 | Last updated 16-Sep-21
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Aesop

When one sees the number and variety of institutions which exist for the purposes of education, and the vast throng of scholars and masters, one might fancy the human race to be very much concerned about truth and wisdom. But here, too, appearances are deceptive. The masters teach in order to gain money, and strive, not after wisdom, but the outward show and reputation of it; and the scholars learn, not for the sake of knowledge and insight, but to be able to chatter and give themselves airs.

[Wenn man die Vielen und Mannigfaltigen Anstalten zum Lehren und Lernen un das so große Gedränge von Schülern und Meistern sieht, könnte man glauben, daß es dem Menschengeschlechte gar sehr um Einsicht und Wahrheit zu thun sei. Aber auch hier trügt der Schein. Jene lehren, um Geld zu verdienen und streben nicht nach Weisheit, sondern nach dem Schein und Kredit derselben: und Diese lernen nicht, um Kenntniß und Einsicht zu erlangen; sondern um schwätzen zu können nd sich ein Ansehn zu geben Alle dreißig Jahre nämlich tritt so ein sondern um schwätzen zu können und sich ein Ansehn zu geben.]

Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 21 “On Learning and the Learned [Über Gelehrsamkeit und Gelehrte],” § 244 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
    (Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

When we see the different institutions for teaching and learning and the vast throng of pupil and masters, we might imagine that the human race was very much bent on insight and truth; but here appearances are deceptive. The masters teach in order to earn money and aspire not to wisdom, but to the semblance and reputation thereof; the pupils learn not to acquire knowledge and insight, but to be able to talk and chat and to give themselves airs.
[tr. Payne (1974)]

 
Added on 23-Oct-13 | Last updated 5-Oct-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Schopenhauer, Arthur

Thousands upon thousands are yearly brought into a state of real poverty by their great anxiety not to be thought poor.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) English politician, agriculturist, journalist, pamphleteer
Advice to Young Men and (Incidentally) to Young Women, Letter 2, #58 (1829)
    (Source)
 
Added on 4-Jan-13 | Last updated 6-Jul-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Cobbett, William

Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) British writer [Herbert George Wells]
The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman, 9.2 (1914)
 
Added on 21-Sep-11 | Last updated 6-Jan-20
Link to this post | 1 comment
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Wells, H.G.

We may also observe that a great many people do many things that seem to be inspired more by a spirit of ostentation than by heart-felt kindness; for such people are not really generous but are rather influenced by a sort of ambition to make a show of being open-handed. Such a pose is nearer akin to hypocrisy than to generosity or moral goodness.

[Videre etiam licet plerosque non tam natura liberales quam quadam gloria ductos, ut benefici videantur, facere multa, quae proficisci ab ostentatione magis quam a voluntate videantur. Talis autem sinulatio vanitati est coniunctior quam aut liberalitati aut honestati.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 1, ch. 14 (1.14) / sec. 44 (44 BC) [tr. Miller (1913)]
    (Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:trans.:

One may also observe in a great many people, that they take a sort of pride in being counted magnificent, and give very plentifully, not from any generous principle in their natures, but only to appear great in the eye of the world; so that all their bounty is resolved into nothing but mere outside and pretense, and is nearer of kin to vanity and folly, than it is to either liberality or honesty.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

Besides we may observe, that most men, not so much from a liberal disposition, as led by some show of apparent beneficence, do acts of kindness, which seem to flow more from ostentation than from the heart. This conduct is more allied to vanity than to liberality or honour.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]

For it is easy to observe, that most of them are not so much by nature generous, as they are misled by a kind of pride to do a great many things in order that they may seem to be generous; which things seem to spring not so much from good will as from ostentation. Now such a simulation is more nearly allied to duplicity than to generosity or virtue.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

We can see, also, that a large number of persons, less from a liberal nature than for the reputation of generosity, do many things that evidently proceed from ostentation rather than from good will.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

It is also manifest that the conduct of men who are not really generous but only ambitious of the name often springs from vainglory rather than from a pure motive. Such hypocrisy, I hold, savours more of deceit than of liberality or honour.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

It is quite clear that many individuals who are not so much innately generous as they are swayed by the vain desire to seem generous, often indulge in gestures that apparently originate in ostentation rather than in genuine open-handedness. This kind of pretense is closer to vanity than to generosity or uprightness.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]

 
Added on 29-May-11 | Last updated 25-Aug-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Cicero, Marcus Tullius

When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Elsie Venner, ch. 2 (1891)
    (Source)

Often misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
 
Added on 26-May-10 | Last updated 4-May-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr.

But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart.”

The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
1 Samuel 16:7 [JB (1966)]
    (Source)

God rejecting Eliab (and all of David's other brothers) to be the next king. Alternate translations:

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
[KJV (1611)]

But the Lord said to him, “Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”
[GNT (1976)]

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
[NRSV (1989)]

 
Added on 4-Jun-09 | Last updated 5-Sep-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Bible, vol. 1, Old Testament

The chief difference between free capitalism and State socialism seems to be this: that under the former a man pursues his own advantage openly, frankly, and honestly, whereas under the latter he does so hypocritically and under false pretences.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
Minority Report: H.L. Mencken’s Notebooks, #397 (1956)
 
Added on 15-Jan-09 | Last updated 2-May-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by Mencken, H. L.

Look at a man in the midst of doubt and danger, and you will lean in his hour of adversity what he really is. It is then that true utterances are wrung from the recesses of his breast. The mask is torn off; the reality remains.

Lucretius (c. 100-c. 55 BC) Roman poet [Titus Luretius Carus]
De Rerum Natura [On the Nature of Things], I. 55 [tr. Latham (1951)]
 
Added on 20-May-08 | Last updated 28-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Lucretius

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato (c.428-347 BC) Greek philosopher
The Republic
 
Added on 16-Aug-07 | Last updated 24-Sep-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Plato

It takes a clever man to hide his cleverness.

[C’est une grande habileté que de savoir cacher son habileté.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶245 (1678) [tr. Heard (1917), ¶253]
    (Source)

In the 1665 edition, this read: Le plus grand art d’un habile homme est celui de savoir cacher son habileté.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

It is a Great Act of Wisdom to be able to Conceal one's being Wise.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶246]

It requires no small degree of ability to know when to conceal it.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), "Ability," ¶4]

It is a great ability to be able to conceal one's ability.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶257]

There is great ability in knowing how to conceal one's ability.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶245]

It is the height of art to conceal art.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶245]

A very clever man will know how to hide his cleverness.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶245]

It is exceedingly clever to know how to hide your cleverness.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶245]

To conceal ingenuity is ingenuity indeed.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶245]

It is great cleverness to know how to hide our cleverness.
[tr. Whichello (2016), ¶245]

 
Added on 26-Jul-07 | Last updated 9-Feb-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , ,
More quotes by La Rochefoucauld, Francois

DUKE: O, what may man within him hide,
Though angel on the outward side!

Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Measure for Measure, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 271ff (3.2.271-272) (1604)
    (Source)
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 5-Feb-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Shakespeare, William

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 5, ch. 11 / 1314b.39

Alt. trans.:

  • "Also he should appear to be particularly earnest in the service of the Gods; for if men think that a ruler is religious and has a reverence for the Gods, they are less afraid of suffering injustice at his hands, and they are less disposed to conspire against him, because they believe him to have the very Gods fighting on his side. At the same time his religion must not be thought foolish." [tr. Jowett (1885)]

  • "And, moreover, always to seem particularly attentive to the worship of the gods; for from persons of such a character men entertain less fears of suffering anything illegal while they suppose that he who governs them is religious and reverences the gods; and they will be less inclined to raise insinuations against such a one, as being peculiarly under their protection: but this must be so done as to give no occasion for any suspicion of hypocrisy." [tr. Ellis (1912)]

  • "And further he must be seen always to be exceptionally zealous as regards religious observances (for people are less afraid of suffering any illegal treatment from men of this sort, if they think that their ruler has religious scruples and pays regard to the gods, and also they plot against him less, thinking that he has even the gods as allies), though he should not display a foolish religiosity." [tr. Rackham (1932)]

  • "Further, he must always show himself to be seriously attentive to the things pertaining to the gods. For men are less afraid fo being treated in some respect contrary to the law by such persons, if they consider the ruler a god-fearing sort who takes thought for the gods, and they are less ready to conspire against him as one who has the gods too as allies. In showing himself of this sort, however, he must avoid silliness." [tr. Lord (1984)]
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 12-Feb-21
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Aristotle

Law and order is like patriotism — anyone who comes on strong about patriotism has got something to hide — it never fails. They always turn out to be a crook or an asshole or a traitor or something.

Mauldin - Law and order is like patriotism - wist.info quote

Bill Mauldin
Bill Mauldin (1921-2003) American editorial cartoonist, writer
Interview by Donald R. Katz, “Bill Mauldin: Drawing Fire,” Rolling Stone (4 Nov 1976)
    (Source)
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 10-Aug-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Mauldin, Bill

It is a great piece of folly to sacrifice the inner for the outer man, to give the whole or the greater part of one’s quiet, leisure, and independence for splendor, rank, pomp, titles and honor.

[Es ist eine große Thorheit, um nach Außen zu gewinnen, nach Innen zu verlieren, d. h. für Glanz, Rang, Prunk, Titel und Ehre, seine Ruhe, Muße und Unabhängingkeit ganz oder großen Theils hinzurgeben.]

Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 2 “Personality, or What Man Is [Von dem, was einer ist]” (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
    (Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

It is a great folly to lose the inner man in order to gain the outer, that is, to give up the whole or the greater part of one's quiet, leisure, and independence for splendor, rank, pomp, titles and honors.
[tr. Payne (1974)]

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 3-Jan-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Schopenhauer, Arthur

SELF-RESPECT: The secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Book of Burlesques, ch. 11 (1920)
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 2-Jul-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Mencken, H. L.

It’s a sign of considerable shrewdness to be able to make others think one is not exceptionally shrewd.

[C’est avoir fait un grand pas dans la finesse, que de faire penser de soi que l’on n’est que médiocrement fin.]

Jean de La Bruyere
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 8 “Of the Court [De la Cour],” § 85 (8.85) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

He is far gone in politicks, who begins to find he is but indifferently politick.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

He is far gone in Cunning, who makes other People believe he is but indifferently Cunning.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

He is thorough-paced in Cunning, who makes others believe that he is no Conjurer.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

A man must be very shrewd to make other people believe that he is not so sharp after all.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

A man has made great progress in cunning when he does not seem too clever to others.
[Common Translation, e.g.]

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 6-Jun-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by La Bruyere, Jean de

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007) American novelist, journalist
Mother Night, Introduction (1961)
    (Source)

See Hawthorne.
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 28-Dec-21
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.

JAQUES:All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts ….

Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As You Like It, Act 2, sc. 7, l. 146ff (2.7.146-149) (1599)
    (Source)
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 17-Jan-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Shakespeare, William