59 Quotes & Sayings By Henri Frederic Amiel

Henri Frederic Amiel (1852-1931) is one of the most important French authors. His memoirs, in which he describes his personal experiences, are among the most outstanding of autobiographical writings by an artist in any language. Amiel was born in 1852 at Beaune, in Burgundy, and died in Paris in 1931. He took part in numerous literary and artistic movements Read more

He was a member of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, an avant-garde group of artists that emerged during the 1890s. It was founded by two painters, Maurice Denis and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Amiel's friendship with them lasted until his death.

He was also a member of the Société des Gens de Lettres, the literary society founded by Maurice Barrès in 1902. Amiel was also a member of the Académie Française and the Académie Nationale de Peinture et de Sculpture. He served on the literary committee of the Universal Exposition of 1908 held in Paris under the presidency of Aristide Briand.

1
To repel one's cross is to make it heavier. Henri Frederic Amiel
2
For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will. Henri Frederic Amiel
3
To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living. Henri Frederic Amiel
4
To know how to grow old is the master-work of wisdom and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living. Henri Frederic Amiel
5
Cleverness is serviceable for everything sufficient for nothing. Henri Frederic Amiel
6
Every life is a possession of faith and exercises an inevitable and silent propaganda. Henri Frederic Amiel
7
We must have the courage to be happy. Henri Frederic Amiel
8
How then find the courage for action? By slipping a little into unconsciousness spontaneity instinct which holds one to the earth and dictates the relatively good and useful.... By accepting the human condition more simply and candidly by dreading troubles less calculating less hoping more. Henri Frederic Amiel
9
Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more. Henri Frederic Amiel
10
A man must be able to cut a knot for everything cannot be untied. Henri Frederic Amiel
11
The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides never decides. Henri Frederic Amiel
12
Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark. Henri Frederic Amiel
13
Faith is a certitude without proofs ... a sentiment for it is a hope it is an instinct for it precedes all outward instruction. Henri Frederic Amiel
14
To win true peace a man needs to feel himself directed pardoned and sustained by a supreme power to feel himself in the right road at the point where God would have him be-in order with God and the universe. This faith gives strength and calm. Henri Frederic Amiel
15
Doing easily what others find is difficult is talent doing what is impossible for talent is genius. Henri Frederic Amiel
16
For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will. Henri Frederic Amiel
17
How then find the courage for action?... By accepting the human condition more simply and candidly by dreading troubles less calculating less hoping more. Henri Frederic Amiel
18
To live we must conquer incessantly we must have the courage to be happy. Henri Frederic Amiel
19
Unconsciousness spontaneity instinct ... hold us to the earth and dictate the relatively good and useful. Henri Frederic Amiel
20
Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour germinates no more. Henri Frederic Amiel
21
Man becomes man only by his intelligence but he is man only by his heart. Henri Frederic Amiel
22
Man is a passion which brings a will into play which works an intelligence. Henri Frederic Amiel
23
A man only understands what is akin to something already existing in himself. Henri Frederic Amiel
24
The man who has no inner life is the slave of his surroundings. Henri Frederic Amiel
25
Time wasted is a theft from God. Henri Frederic Amiel
26
To learn new habits is everything for it is to reach the substance of life. Life is but a tissue of habits. Henri Frederic Amiel
27
Man becomes man only by the intelligence but he is man only by the heart. Henri Frederic Amiel
28
Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty. Henri Frederic Amiel
29
A thousand things advance nine hundred and ninety-nine retreat that is progress. Henri Frederic Amiel
30
Learn to ... be what you are and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not. Henri Frederic Amiel
31
A man must be able to cut a knot for everything cannot be untied he must know how to disengage what is essential from the detail in which it is enwrapped for everything cannot be equally considered in a word he must be able to simplify his duties his business and his life. Henri Frederic Amiel
32
The great artist and thinker are the simplifiers. Henri Frederic Amiel
33
Almost everything comes from almost nothing. Henri Frederic Amiel
34
There is no respect for others without humility in one's self. Henri Frederic Amiel
35
Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart. Henri Frederic Amiel
36
Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd it must be communicated by contagion. Henri Frederic Amiel
37
Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you. Henri Frederic Amiel
38
He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life. Henri Frederic Amiel
39
Society lives by faith, and develops by science. Henri Frederic Amiel
40
It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well. Henri Frederic Amiel
41
To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest; we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction and vary the song. Henri Frederic Amiel
42
Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven. Henri Frederic Amiel
43
Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy. Henri Frederic Amiel
44
Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves. Henri Frederic Amiel
45
The best path through life is the highway. Henri Frederic Amiel
46
Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not. Henri Frederic Amiel
48
Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false. Henri Frederic Amiel
49
Truth is not only violated by falsehood it may be equally outraged by silence. Henri Frederic Amiel
50
To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy. Henri Frederic Amiel
51
In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties. Henri Frederic Amiel
52
Sympathy is the first condition of criticism. Henri Frederic Amiel
53
Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence. Henri Frederic Amiel
54
True humility is contentment. Henri Frederic Amiel
55
The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. Henri Frederic Amiel
56
To marry unequally is to suffer equally. Henri Frederic Amiel
57
Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library. Henri Frederic Amiel
58
Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them. Henri Frederic Amiel