Children and Their Parents
Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.
— Oscar Wilde
Forgiveness vs. Anger
Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.
— Cherie Carter-Scott
On Criticism
Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
On Love
Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.
— Iris Murdoch
On Giving Advice
The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
— Hannah Whitall Smith
On Reputation
Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of — for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
— Socrates
The Value of Reading
The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.
— Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain)
What Is an Honorable Person?
The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.
— H.L. Mencken
True Happiness
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
— Helen Keller