A true and strong talent cannot be killed by the harshness of criticism, any more than an insignificant talent can be taught by its praise.
The starting point of moral perfection is, first of all, a material necessity.
However rich and luxurious the inner life of man may be, however hot it may be, it is not complete unless it includes within itself the interests of the outer world, of society and of mankind.
Slander is not always a bad deed: more often than not, it is the result of an innocent desire to entertain yourself in an interesting conversation, and at other times, the result of kindness and compassion so sincere that it becomes uncomfortable.
The book is the life of our time, everyone needs it, both the old and the young.
He who has nothing to say, better to be silent.
Who will tell me the truth about myself, if not a friend.
He who does not go forward, goes backward: there is no other option.
He who does not belong to his country does not belong to humanity.
He who has not first become a man is a bad citizen.
He who suddenly expresses his opinions about the actions of others, thus forces himself to act better than others.
Love kindness and you will be useful to your country without much effort.
Love is offered only to love.
Love and respect for parents are undoubtedly holy feelings.
Love has its own laws of development, its stages, just like human life. It has a splendid spring, a hot summer, and finally an autumn which for some is warm, bright, and fruitful, and for others cold, rotten, and barren.
Love for the country must start from love for humanity, as part of the whole. To love one's country means to desire passionately to see in it the realization of the ideal of humanity and to contribute to it according to the measure of one's powers.
Love is so strong that it does the impossible, it always triumphs over the ever-changing conditions of space and time, over the weakness of the body, giving the baby the strength of a lion.
Love often errs, seeing in the object of passion something that is not there, but love alone discovers the beautiful and the sublime where the spirit of observation and reason see nothing.
Love, as one of the strongest passions that drives man from one extreme to another more than any other passion, can serve as the touchstone of morality.
People do not usually rejoice so much in what is given to them as they grieve over what is not given to them.
People die so that humanity can live.
A measure of a woman's dignity can be the man she loves.
A lot of people live not living, but only preparing to live.
You may not love your brother if he is a bad man, but you cannot not love your country, whatever it may be: only that this love should not be a dead state of contentment with what is given, but a desire for improvement.
A man with a feminine character is one of the most poisonous slanders against man.
We interrogate the past to explain the present and help us understand the future.
Only ideas and not words have power over society.
To find the way, to know one's place: this is the essence of man, this is to become himself.
Attacks ... on the shortcomings and vices of populism are not a crime, but a merit, a true patriotism.
Even in jest you don't have to lie and flatter. Let anyone think of you whatever they want, and you be what you are.