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He Who Has No Taste For Order, Will Be Often Wrong In His Judgment, And Seldom Considerate Or Conscientious In His Actions.

-Johann Kaspar Lavater

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He Who Has No

Johann Kaspar Lavater

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He Who Has No Taste For Order, Will Be Often Wrong In His Judgment, And Seldom Considerate Or Conscientious In His Actions.

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Dread More The Blunderer's Friendship Than The Calumniator's Enmity.

How Few Our Real Wants, And How Vast Our Imaginary Ones!

Man Without Religion Is A Diseased Creature, Who Would Persuade Himself He Is Well And Needs Not A Physician; But Woman Without Religion Is Raging And Monstrous.

The More Unharmonious And Inconsistent Your Objects Of Desire, The More Inconsequent, Inconstant, Unquiet, The More Ignoble, Idiotical, And Criminal Yourself.

Borrowed Wit Is The Poorest Wit.

Modesty Is Silent When It Would Be Improper To Speak; The Humble, Without Being Called Upon, Never Recollects To Say Anything Of Himself.

He Who Goes Round About In His Requests Wants Commonly More Than He Chooses To Appear To Want.

If You Wish To Appear Agreeable In Society, You Must Consent To Be Taught Many Things Which You Already Know.

Not Every One Who Has The Gift Of Speech Understands The Value Of Silence.

The True Friend Of Truth And Good Loves Them Under All Forms, But He Loves Them Most Under The Most Simple Form.

The Discovery Of Truth, By Slow Progressive Meditation, Is Wisdom. - Intuition Of Truth, Not Preceded By Perceptible Meditation, Is Genius.

Who Is Respectable When Thinking Himself Alone And Free From Observation Will Be So Before The Eye Of All The World.

Three Things Characterize Man: Person, Fate, Merit--the Harmony Of These Constitutes Real Grandeur.

Wishes Run Over In Loquacious Impotence, Will Presses On With Laconic Energy.

An Entirely Honest Man, In The Severe Sense Of The Word, Exists No More Than An Entirely Dishonest Knave: The Best And The Worst Are Only Approximations Of Those Qualities. Who Are Those That Never Contradict Themselves? Yet Honesty Never Contradicts Itself: Who Are Those That Always Contradict Themselves? Yet Knavery Is Mere Self-contradiction. Thus The Knowledge Of Man Determines Not The Things Themselves, But Their Proportions, The Quan∣tum Of Congruities And Incongruities.

Be Neither Too Early In The Fashion, Nor Too Long Out Of It; Nor At Any Time In The Extremes Of It.

He Who Is Passionate And Hasty Is Generally Honest. It Is Your Cool, Dissembling Hypocrite Of Whom You Should Beware.

All Finery Is A Sign Of Littleness.

He Who Purposely Cheats His Friend Would Cheat His God.

He Who, When Called Upon To Speak A Disagreeable Truth, Tells It Boldly And Has Done Is Both Bolder And Milder Than He Who Nibbles In A Low Voice And Never Ceases Nibbling.

The Wrath That On Conviction Subsides Into Mildness, Is The Wrath Of A Generous Mind.

Say Not You Know Another Entirely Till You Have Divided An Inheritance With Him.

The Cruelty Of The Effeminate Is More Dreadful Than That Or The Hardy.

He Surely Is Most In Need Of Another's Patience, Who Has None Of His Own.

Who Has A Daring Eye Tell Downright Truths And Downright Lies.

Who Will Sacrifice Nothing, And Enjoy All, Is A Fool.

Fools Learn Nothing From Wise Men, But Wise Men Learn Much From Fools.

The Policy Of Adapting One's Self To Circumstances Makes All Ways Smooth.

There Are Three Classes Of Men; The Retrograde, The Stationary And The Progressive.

Stubbornness Is The Strength Of The Weak.

He Who Has No Taste For Order, Will Be Often Wrong In His Judgment, And Seldom Considerate Or Conscientious In His Actions.

The Mingled Incentives Which Lead To Action Are Often Too Subtle And Lie Too Deep For Us To Analyze.

Where Pride Begins, Love Ceases.

Do Not Believe That A Book Is Good, If In Reading It Thou Dost Not Become More Contented With Thy Existence, If It Does Not Rouse Up In Thee Most Generous Feelings.

Sensibility Is The Power Of Woman.

I Am Prejudiced In Favor Of Him Who, Without Impudence, Can Ask Boldly. He Has Faith In Humanity, And Faith In Himself. No One Who Is Not Accustomed To Giving Grandly Can Ask Nobly And With Boldness.

Humility With Energy Is Often Mistaken For Pride.

Copiousness And Simplicity, Variety And Unity, Constitute Real Greatness Of Character.

His Calumny Is Not Only The Greatest Benefit A Rogue Can Confer On Us, But The Only Service He Will Perform For Nothing.

The Enemy Of Art Is The Enemy Of Nature; Art Is Nothing But The Highest Sagacity And Exertion Of Human Nature; And What Nature Will He Honour Who Honours Not The Human?

Neatness Begets Order; But From Order To Taste There Is The Same Difference As From Taste To Genius, Or From Love To Friendship.

Desire Is The Uneasiness A Man Finds In Himself Upon The Absence Of Anything Whose Present Enjoyment Carries The Idea Of Delight With It.

She Whom Smiles And Tears Make Equally Lovely May Command All Hearts.

The Public Seldom Forgive Twice.

Habit Is Altogether Too Arbitrary A Master For Me To Submit To.

The Generous Person Is Always Just, And The Just Who Is Always Generous May, Unannounced, Approach The Throne Of Heaven.

Intuition Is The Clear Conception Of The Whole At Once.

Too Much Gravity Argues A Shallow Mind.

He Knows Very Little Of Mankind Who Expects, By Any Facts Or Reasoning, To Convince A Determined Party Man.

Take Here The Grand Secret; If Not Of Pleasing All, Yet Of Displeasing None, And Court Mediocrity, Avoid Originality, And Sacrifice To Fashion.

The Worst Of Faces Still Is Human.

He Who Seeks To Imbitter Innocent Pleasure Has A Cancer In His Heart.

Every Man Has His Devilish Minutes.

Half Talent Is No Talent.

Beware Of Biting Jests; The More Truth They Carry With Them, The Greater Wounds They Give, The Greater Smarts They Cause, And The Greater Scars They Leave Behind Them.

Venerate Four Characters: The Sanguine Who Has Checked Volatility And The Rage For Pleasure; The Choleric Who Has Subdued Passion And Pride; The Phlegmatic Emerged From Indolence; And The Melancholy Who Has Dismissed Avarice, Suspicion And Asperity.

He Scatters Enjoyment Who Can Enjoy Much.

Be Not The Fourth Friend Of Him Who Had Three Before And Lost Them.

The Freer You Feel Yourself In The Presence Of Another, The More Free Is He...

The Prudent See Only The Difficulties, The Bold Only The Advantages, Of A Great Enterprise; The Hero Sees Both; Diminishes The Former And Makes The Latter Preponderate, And So Conquers.

The Great Rule Of Moral Conduct Is Next To God, Respect Time.

The Procrastinator Is Not Only Indolent And Weak, But Commonly, False, Too; Most Of The Weak Are False.

Procrastination

The Countenance Is More Eloquent Than The Tongue.

Who Knows Whence He Comes, Where He Is, And Whither He Tends, He, And He Alone, Is Wise.

Who Is Open Without Levity; Generous Without Waste; Secret Without Craft; Humble Without Meanness; Bold Without Insolence; Cautious Without Anxiety; Regular, Yet Not Formal; Mild, Yet Not Timid; Firm, Yet Not Tyrannical - Is Made To Pass The Ordeal Of Honour, Friendship, Virtue.

Many Very Intelligent Agreeable Persons Have Warts On The Forehead, Not Brown, Nor Very Large, Between The Eyebrows, Which Have Nothing In Them Offensive Or Disgusting. - But A Large Brown Wart On The Upper Lip, Especially When It Is Bristly, Will Be Found In No Person Who Is Not Defective In Something Essential, Or At Least Remarkable For Some Conspicuous Failing.

Softness Of Smile Indicates Softness Of Character.

A Fop Of Fashion Is The Mercer's Friend, The Tailor's Fool, And His Own Foe.

He Can Feel No Little Wants Who Is In Pursuit Of Grandeur.

What Is The Elevation Of The Soul? A Prompt, Delicate, Certain Feeling For All That Is Beautiful, All That Is Grand; A Quick Resolution To Do The Greatest Good By The Smallest Means; A Great Benevolence Joined To A Great Strength And Great Humility.

Calmness Of Will Is A Sign Of Grandeur.

Women Are Proverbially Credulous.

He Also Has Energy Who Cannot Be Deprived Of It.

Who Has Witnessed One Free And Unconstrained Act Of Yours, Has Witnessed All.

Decided Ends Are Sure Signs Of A Decided Character.

Who, Under Pressing Temptations To Lie, Adheres To Truth, Nor To The Profane Betrays Aught Of A Sacred Trust, Is Near The Summit Of Wisdom And Virtue.

He, Who Cannot Forgive A Trespass Of Malice To His Enemy, Has Never Yet Tasted The Most Sublime Enjoyment Of Love.

Thinkers Are Scarce As Gold; But He Whose Thoughts Embrace All His Subject, And Who Pursues It Uninterruptedly And Fearless Of Consequences, Is A Diamond Of Enormous Size.

Trust Him With None Of Thy Individualities Who Is, Or Pretends To Be, Two Things At Once.

In The Society Of Ladies, Want Of Sense Is Not So Unpardonable As Want Of Manners.

Vanity And Rudeness Are Seldom Seen Together.

Who, In The Midst Of Just Provocation To Anger, Instantly Finds The Fit Word Which Settles All Around Him In Silence Is More Than Wise Or Just; He Is, Were He A Beggar, Of More Than Royal Blood, He Is Of Celestial Descent.

Indiscretion, Rashness, Falsehood, Levity, And Malice, Produce Each Other.

There Is No Mortal Truly Wise And Restless At Once; Wisdom Is The Repose Of Minds.

It Is A Poor Wit Who Lives By Borrowing The Words, Decisions, Mien, Inventions And Actions Of Others.

He Who Sedulously Attends, Pointedly Asks, Calmly Speaks, Coolly Answers And Ceases When He Has No More To Say Is In Possession Of Some Of The Best Requisites Of Man

Avoid Him Who From Mere Curiosity Asks Three Questions Running About A Thing That Cannot Interest Him.

To Realize That You Were Mistaken, Is Just The Acknowledgement , That You Are Wiser Today Than You Were Yesterday.

There Are No Friends More Inseparable Than Pride And Hardness Of Heart, Humility And Love, Falsehood And Impudence.

Trust Him Not With Your Secrets, Who, When Left Alone In Your Room, Turns Over Your Papers.

Don't Speak Evil Of Someone If You Don't Know For Certain, And If You Do Know Ask Yourself, Why Am I Telling It?

Who Is Fatal To Others Is So To Himself.

Who Recollects Distinctly His Past Adventures, Knows His Destiny To Come.

Nothing Is So Pregnant As Cruelty; So Multifarious, So Rapid, So Ever Teeming A Mother Is Unknown To The Animal Kingdom; Each Of Her Experiments Provokes Another And Refines Upon The Last; Though Always Progressive, Yet Always Remote From The End.

What Do I Owe To My Times, To My Country, To My Neighbors, To My Friends? Such Are The Questions Which A Virtuous Man Ought Often To Ask Himself.

The Man Who Loves With His Whole Heart Truth Will Love Still More He Who Suffers For Truth.

Close Thine Ear Against Him That Shall Open His Mouth Secretly Against Another. If Thou Receivest Not His Words, They Fly Back And Wound The Reporter. If Thou Dost Receive Them, They Fly Forward And Wound The Receiver.

The Most Stormy Ebullitions Of Passion, From Blasphemy To Murder, Are Less Terrific Than One Single Act Of Cool Villainy.

Let The Degree Of Egotism Be The Measure Of Confidence.

He Who, Silent, Loves To Be With Us - He Who Loves Us In Our Silence - Has Touched One Of The Keys That Ravish Hearts.

Where Consequence Ceases, There Folly, Restlessness And Misery Begin.

It Is One Of My Favorite Thoughts That God Manifests Himself To Men In All The Wise, Good, Humble, Generous, Great, And Magnanimous Men.

Who Gives A Trifle Meanly Is Meaner Than The Trifle.

The Less You Can Enjoy, The Poorer, The Scantier Yourself - The More You Can Enjoy, The Richer, The More Vigorous.

The Acquisition Of Will, For One Thing Exclusively, Presupposes Entire Acquaintance With Many Others.

The Humblest Star Twinkles Most In The Darkest Night.

He Whom Common, Gross, Or Stale Objects Allure, And When Obtained, Content, Is A Vulgar Being, Incapable Of Greatness In Thought Or Action.

A Gift--its Kind, Its Value And Appearance; The Silence Or The Pomp That Attends It; The Style In Which It Reaches You--may Decide The Dignity Or Vulgarity Of The Giver.

Injustice Arises Either From Precipitation, Or Indolence, Or From A Mixture Of Both. - The Rapid And Slow Are Seldom Just; The Unjust Wait Either Not At All, Or Wait Too Long.

The Quicker, The Louder, The Applause With Which Another Tries To Gain You Over To His Purpose - The Bitterer His Censure If He Miss His Aim.

Whatever Obscurities May Involve Religious Tenets, Humility And Love Constitute The Essence Of True Religion; The Humble Is Formed To Adore, The Loving To Associate With Eternal Love.

He Who Reforms Himself Has Done More Towards Reforming The Public Than A Crowd Or Noisy, Impotent Patriots.

The Worst Of All Knaves Are Those Who Can Mimic Their Former Honesty.

Thousands Are Hated, While None Are Loved Without A Real Cause

And Still, Laughter Is Akin To Weeping.

True Philosophy Is That Which Renders Us To Ourselves, And All Others Who Surround Us, Better, And At The Same Time More Content, More Patient, More Calm And More Ready For All Decent And Pure Enjoyment.

He Who Prorogues The Honesty Of Today Till To-morrow Will Probably Prorogue His To-morrows To Eternity.

Those Who Speak Always And Those Who Never Speak Are Equally Unfit For Friendship. A Food Proportion Of The Talent Of Listening And Speaking Is The Base Of Social Virtues.

Whenever A Man Undergoes A Considerable Change, In Consequence Of Being Observed By Others, Whenever He Assumes Another Gait, Another Language, Than What He Had Before He Thought Himself Observed, Be Advised To Guard Yourself Against Him.

Him, Who Incessantly Laughs In The Street, You May Commonly Hear Grumbling In His Closet.

The Affectation Of Sanctity Is A Blotch On The Face Of Piety.

All Affectation Is The Vain And Ridiculous Attempt Of Poverty To Appear Rich

The Proverbial Wisdom Of The Populace In The Street, On The Roads, And In The Markets Instructs The Ear Of Him Who Studies Man More Fully Than A Thousand Rules Ostentatiously Displayed.

As Your Enemies And Your Friends, So Are You

The More Uniform A Man's Voice, Step, Manner Of Conversation, Handwriting--the More Quiet, Uniform, Settled, His Actions, His Character.

Malice Is Poisoned By Her Own Venom.

All Belief That Does Not Make Us More Happy, More Free, More Loving, More Active, More Calm, Is, I Fear, A Mistaken And Superstitious Belief.

Have You Ever Seen A Pedant With A Warm Heart?

She Neglects Her Heart Who Too Closely Studies Her Glass.

Defeat Serves To Enlighten Us.

Just So Far As We Are Pleased At Finding Faults, Are We Displeased At Finding Perfection.

Airs Of Importance Are The Credentials Of Impotence.

Avoid Connecting Yourself With Characters Whose Good And Bad Sides Are Unmixed And Have Not Fermented Together; They Resemble Vials Of Vinegar And Oil; Or Palletts Set With Colors; They Are Either Excellent At Home And Insufferable Abroad, Or Intolerable Within Doors And Excellent In Public; They Are Unfit For Friendship, Merely Because Their Stamina, Their Ingredients Of Character Are Too Single, Too Much Apart; Let Them Be Finely Ground Up With Each Other, And They Are Incomparable.

He Who Seldom Speaks, And With One Calm Well-timed Word Can Strike Dumb The Loquacious, Is A Genius Or A Hero.

You May Depend Upon It That He Is A Good Man Whose Intimate Friends Are All Good, And Whose Enemies Are Decidedly Bad.

There Is A Manner Of Forgiveness So Divine That You Are Ready To Embrace The Offender For Having Called It Forth.

A Sneer Is Often The Sign Of Heartless Malignity.

Who Trades In Contradictions Will Not Be Contradicted.

The Smiles That Encourage Severity Of Judgment Hide Malice And Insincerity.

Kiss The Hand Of Him Who Can Renounce What He Has Publicly Taught When Convicted Of His Error, And Who, With Heartfelt Joy, Embraces Truth, Though With The Sacrifice Of Favourite Opinions.

Good-humor Is Always A Success.

True Genius Repeats Itself Forever, And Never Repeats Itself--one Ever Varied Sense Beams Novelty And Unity On All.

No Communication Or Gift Can Exhaust Genius Or Impoverish Charity.

The Jealous Are Possessed By A Mad Devil And A Dull Spirit At The Same Time.

Obstinacy Is The Strength Of The Weak. Firmness Founded Upon Principle, Upon The Truth And Right, Order And Law, Duty And Generosity, Is The Obstinacy Of Sages.

The Obstinacy Of The Indolent And Weak Is Less Conquerable Than That Of The Fiery And Bold.

Who Forces Himself On Others Is To Himself A Load. Impetuous Curiosity Is Empty And Inconstant. Prying Intrusion May Be Suspected Of Whatever Is Little.

The Ambitious Sacrifices All To What He Terms Honor, As The Miser All To Money.

If You See One Cold And Vehement At The Same Time, Set Him Down For A Fanatic.

Receive No Satisfaction For Premeditated Impertinence - Forget It, Forgive It - But Keep Him Inexorably At A Distance Who Of∣fered It.

To Know Yourself You Have Only To Set Down A True Statement Of Those That Ever Loved Or Hated You.

There Are Many Kinds Of Smiles, Each Having A Distinct Character. Some Announce Goodness And Sweetness, Others Betray Sarcasm, Bitterness And Pride; Some Soften The Countenance By Their Languishing Tenderness, Others Brighten By Their Spiritual Vivacity.

The Greatest Of Characters, No Doubt, Would Be He, Who, Free Of All Trifling Accidental Helps, Could See Objects Through One Grand Immutable Medium, Always At Hand, And Proof Against Illusion And Time, Reflecting Every Object In Its True Shape And Colour Through All The Fluctuation Of Things.

A Great Passion Has No Partner.

As Man's Love Or Hatred, So He. Love And Hatred Exist Only Personified.

Hatred And Love

A Beautiful Smile Is To The Female Countenance What The Sunbeam Is To The Landscape; It Embellishes An Inferior Face And Redeems An Ugly One.

Before Thou Callest A Man Hero Or Genius, Investigate Whether His Exertion Has Features Of Indelibility; For All That Is Celestial, All Genius, Is The Offspring Of Immortality.

Who Partakes In Another's Joys Is A More Humane Character Than He Who Partakes In His Griefs.

Weaknesses, So Called, Are Nothing More Nor Less Than Vice In Disguise!

Mistrust The Man Who Finds Everything Good, The Man Who Finds Everything Evil And Still More The Man Who Is Indifferent To Everything.

Action, Looks, Words, Steps, Form The Alphabet By Which You May Spell Character.

Let None Turn Over Books, Or Roam The Stars In Quest Of God, Who Sees Him Not In Man.

He Whose Pride Oppresses The Humble May Perhaps Be Humbled, But Will Never Be Humble.

The Proportion Of Genius To The Vulgar Is Like One To A Million.

What Knowledge Is There Of Which Man Is Capable That Is Not Founded On The Exterior,--the Relation That Exists Between Visible And Invisible, The Perceptible And The Imperceptible?

Three Days Of Uninterrupted Company In A Vehicle Will Make You Better Acquainted With Another, Than One Hour's Conversation With Him Every Day For Three Years.

Who Cuts Is Easily Wounded. The Readier You Are To Offend The Sooner You Are Offended.

Who Affects Useless Singularities Has Surely A Little Mind.

Learn The Value Of A Man's Words And Expressions, And You Know Him. Each Man Has A Measure Of His Own For Everything; This He Offers You Inadvertently In His Words. He Who Has A Superlative For Everything Wants A Measure For The Great Or Small.

He Who, In Questions Of Right, Virtue, Or Duty, Sets Himself Above All Ridicule, Is Truly Great, And Shall Laugh In The End With Truer Mirth Than Ever He Was Laughed At.

You May Tell A Man Thou Art A Fiend, But Not Your Nose Wants Blowing; To Him Alone Who Can Bear A Thing Of That Kind, You May Tell All.

Existence Is Self-enjoyment, By Means Of Some Object Distinct From Ourselves.

Be Certain That He Who Has Betrayed Thee Once Will Betray Thee Again.

He Who Comes From The Kitchen, Smells Of Its Smoke; And He Who Adheres To A Sect, Has Something Of Its Cant; The College Air Pursues The Student; And Dry Inhumanity Him Who Herds With Literary Pedants.

Who Makes Quick Use Of The Moment Is A Genius Of Prudence.

Use It Or Lose It

Where There Is Much Pretension, Much Has Been Borrowed; Nature Never Pretends.

The Conscience Is More Wise Than Science.

Words Are The Wings Of Actions.

He Has Oratory Who Ravishes His Hearers While He Forgets Himself.

Neither Refinement Nor Delicacy Is Indispensable To Produce Elegance.

Avoid The Eye That Discovers With Rapidity The Bad, And Is Slow To See The Good.

As The Interest Of Man, So His God - As His God, So He.

It Is Possible That A Wise And Good Man May Be Prevailed On To Game; But It Is Impossi∣ble That A Professed Gamester Should Be A Wise And Good Man.

The Manner Of Giving Shows The Character Of The Giver, More Than The Gift Itself.

Have I Done Aught Of Value To My Fellow-men? Then Have I Done Much For Myself.

Superstition Always Inspires Littleness, Religion Grandeur Of Mind; The Superstitious Raises Beings Inferior To Himself To Deities.

God Protects Those He Loves From Worthless Reading.

He Is Incapable Of A Truly Good Action Who Finds Not A Pleasure In Contemplating The Good Actions Of Others.

Strange That Cowards Cannot See That Their Greatest Safety Lies In Dauntless Courage.

Depend On No Man, On No Friend But Him Who Can Depend On Himself. He Only Who Acts Conscientiously Toward Himself, Will Act So Toward Others.

Dependence On Others

Truth, Wisdom, Love, Seek Reasons; Malice Only Seeks Causes.

When You Doubt Between Words, Use The Plainest, The Commonest, The Most Idiomatic. Eschew Fine Words As You Would Rouge; Love Simple Ones As You Would The Native Roses On Your Cheek.

The Immoderate Cannot Laugh Moderately.

If You Mean To Know Yourself, Interline Such Of These Aphorisms As Affect You Agreeably In Reading, And Set A Mark To Such As Left A Sense Of Uneasiness With You; And Then Show Your Copy To Whom You Please.

Who Despises All That Is Despicable Is Made To Be Impressed With All That Is Grand.

Wisdom Is The Repose Of The Mind.

The Miser Robs Himself.

The Loss Of Taste For What Is Right Is Loss Of All Right Taste.

Conscience Is Wiser Than Science.

The Creditor Whose Appearance Gladdens The Heart Of A Debtor May Hold His Head In Sunbeams And His Foot On Storms.

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