Henri Frédéric Amiel (French: [amjɛl]; 27 September 1821 – 11 May 1881) was a Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic.
At the bottom of the modern man there is always a great thirst for self-forgetfulness, self-distraction. . . and therefore he turns away from all those problems and abysses which might recall to him his own nothingness.
Nature does at least what she can to translate into visible form the wealth of the creative formula. By the vastness of the abysses into which she penetrates, in the effort--the unsuccessful effort--to house and contain the eternal thought, we may measure the greatness of the divine mind.
The only substance properly so called is the soul.
When everything has its proper place in our minds, we are able to stand in equilibrium with the rest of the world.
Philosophy means the complete liberty of the mind, and therefore independence of all social, political or religious prejudice. . . It loves one thing only. . . truth.
Heroism is the brilliant triumph of the soul over the flesh - over fear. . . Heroism is the dazzling and glorious concentration of courage.
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.
Every man is a priest, even involuntarily; his conduct is an unspoken sermon, which is forever preaching to others.
Doubt is the accomplice of tyranny.
A modest garden contains, for those who know how to look and to wait, more instruction than a library.
Oh be swift to live, make haste to be kind.
Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness.
Happiness does away with ugliness, and even makes the beauty of beauty.
Order is a great person's need and their true well being.
A journal takes the place of a confidant, that is, of friend or wife; it becomes a substitute for production, a substitute for country and public. It is a grief-cheating device, a mode of escape and withdrawal; but, factotum as it is, though it takes the place of everything, properly speaking it represents nothing at all.
Kindness is gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us.
There is no repose for the mind except in the absolute; for feeling, except in the infinite; for the soul, except in the divine.
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.
Every situation is an equilibrium of forces; every life is a struggle between opposing forces working within the limits of a certain equilibrium
The test of every religious, political, or educational system, is the man which it forms. If a system injures the intelligence it is bad. If it injures the character it is vicious. If it injures the conscience it is criminal.