Intelligence is that faculty of mind, by which order is perceived in a situation previously considered disordered.

Intelligence is that faculty of mind, by which order is perceived in a situation previously considered disordered.

Life is not an easy matter.... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have read more

Life is not an easy matter.... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.

We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.

We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.

The suspicious believe everybody to be suspicious; the liar feels secure in the thought that he is not so foolish read more

The suspicious believe everybody to be suspicious; the liar feels secure in the thought that he is not so foolish as to believe that there is such a phenomenon as a strictly truthful person; the envious see envy in every soul; the miser thinks everybody is eager to get his money;...and the abandoned sensualist looks upon the saint as a hypocrite

If the secret sorrows of everyone could be read on their forehead, how many who now cause envy would suddenly read more

If the secret sorrows of everyone could be read on their forehead, how many who now cause envy would suddenly become the objects of pity.

When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can read more

When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.

If intellection and knowledge were mere passion from without, or the bare reception of extraneous and adventitious forms, then no read more

If intellection and knowledge were mere passion from without, or the bare reception of extraneous and adventitious forms, then no reason could be given at all why a mirror or looking-glass should not understand; whereas it cannot so much as sensibly perceive those images which it receives and reflects to us.

The two most abundant things in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.

The two most abundant things in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.

The observation of others is coloured by our inability to observe ourselves impartially. We can never be impartial about anything read more

The observation of others is coloured by our inability to observe ourselves impartially. We can never be impartial about anything until we can be impartial about our own organism. - Essays and Aphorisms.