Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in his manner of portraying another’s.
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825) German writer, art historian, philosopher, littérateur [Johann Paul Friedrich Richter; pseud. Jean Paul]
Titan: A Romance, Jubilee 28, cycle 110 (1803) [tr. Brooks (1864)]
(Source)
Alternate translation: "A man never reveals his character more vividly than when portraying the character of another."
Quotations about:
self-revelation
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
How beautiful is candor! All faults may be forgiven of him who has perfect candor.
Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
Beyond Good and Evil, 169 (1886) [tr. Kaufmann (1966)]
It is a sad fate for a man to die
Too well known to everybody else,
And still unknown to himself.[Illi mors gravis incubate
Qui notus nimis omnibus
Ignotus moritur sibi.]
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Thyestes, ll. 401-403 [tr. Bacon]
Lines from the Chorus translated by Francis Bacon, in "Of Great Place," Essays, Part 11. Sometimes incorrectly attributed to Bacon.
Never does a man portray his own character more vividly than in his manner of portraying another’s.
Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825) German writer, art historian, philosopher, littérateur [Johann Paul Friedrich Richter; pseud. Jean Paul]
Titan, “Twenty-Eighth Jubilee” (1800-03)
If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) English modernist writer [b. Adeline Virginia Stephen]
“The Leaning Tower,” Lecture, Workers’ Educational Association, Brighton (May 1940)
