Mastodawn

It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”

More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

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Stevenson, Robert Louis - Essay (1880-01/02?), "Reflections and Remarks on Human Life," § 1.1 "Justice and Justification" | WIST Quotations

It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective. A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in…

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WIST Quotations Apr 27

A quotation from Montesquieu

I suffer from the disease of writing books and being ashamed of them when they are finished.

[J’ai la maladie de faire des livres et d’en être honteux quand je les ai faits.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 83 / 837 (1720-1755)

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/83690/

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WIST Quotations Apr 7

A quotation from Emerson

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. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

More about this quote: wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/…

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Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Essay (1841), "Self-Reliance," Essays: First Series, No. 2 | WIST Quotations

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…

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WIST Quotations Apr 3

A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

Few men are sufficiently discerning to appreciate all the evil they do.

[Il n’y a guère d’homme assez habile pour connoître tout le mal qu’il fait.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶269 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959), ¶269]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

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La Rochefoucauld, Francois - Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶269 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959), ¶269] | WIST Quotations

Few men are sufficiently discerning to appreciate all the evil they do. [Il n’y a guère d’homme assez habile pour connoître tout le mal qu’il fait.] First appeared in the 2nd (1666) edition. In manuscript, it reads "... assez pénétrant pour apercevoir tout le mal qu’il fait." (Source (French)). Other…

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WIST Quotations Mar 12

A quotation from Ben Franklin

Many complain of their Memory, few of their Judgment.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)

More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/82…

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Franklin, Benjamin - Poor Richard (1745 ed.) | WIST Quotations

Many complain of their Memory, few of their Judgment. Not an original sentiment from Franklin. See, for example, La Rochefoucauld (1666).

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Valdeloire Feb 7

Справжні вороги художника — це ...
Анрі Матісс

Un peintre n'a vraiment d'ennemis sérieux ...
Henri Matisse
https://buymeacoffee.com/valdeloir/kajapahetu

#мистецтво #художник #творчість #самокритика #цитати
#art #artist #creativity #selfcriticism #quotes

WIST Quotations Feb 6

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

But when thoughts and words are collected and adjusted, and the whole composition at last concluded, it seldom gratifies the author, when he comes coolly and deliberately to review it, with the hopes which had been excited in the fury of the performance: novelty always captivates the mind; as our thoughts rise fresh upon us, we readily believe them just and original, which, when the pleasure of production is over, we find to be mean and common, or borrowed from the works of others, and supplied by memory rather than invention.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1754-03-02), The Adventurer, No. 138

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/81911…

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Johnson, Samuel - Essay (1754-03-02), The Adventurer, No. 138 | WIST Quotations

But when thoughts and words are collected and adjusted, and the whole composition at last concluded, it seldom gratifies the author, when he comes coolly and deliberately to review it, with the hopes which had been excited in the fury of the performance: novelty always captivates the mind; as our…

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Kent Huff Jan 26

"Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you."
- Mary Lou Retton

#quote #quotes #motivation #selflove #love #selfrespect #esteem #resilience #recovery #believeinyourself #selfacceptance #selfappreciation #selfassessment #selfconfidence #selfcriticism #selfimage

Kent Huff Jan 24

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
- Maya Angelou

#quote #quotes #motivation #selflove #love #selfrespect #esteem #resilience #recovery #believeinyourself #selfacceptance #selfappreciation #selfassessment #selfconfidence #selfcriticism #selfimage #selfloathing

WIST Quotations Jan 23

A quotation from George Washington

Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.

George Washington (1732–1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789–1797)
Letter (1796-09-17), "Farewell Address" [with J. Madison, A. Hamilton]

More about this quote: wist.info/washington-george/81…

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Washington, George - Letter (1796-09-17), "Farewell Address" [with J. Madison, A. Hamilton] | WIST Quotations

Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to…

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