Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach quotes:
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The poor man wishes to conceal his poverty, and the rich man his wealth: the former fears lest he be despised, the latter lest he be plundered.
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Authors from whom others steal should not complain, but rejoice. Where there is no game there are no poachers.
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An intelligent woman has millions of born enemies... all the stupid men.
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He who believes in freedom of the will has never loved and never hated.
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None are so eager to gain new experience as those who don't know how to make use of the old ones.
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Exceptions are not always the proof of the old rule; they can also be the harbinger of a new one.
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If you have one good idea, people will lend you twenty.
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We are so vain that we even care for the opinion of those we don't care for.
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Wit is an intermittent fountain; kindness is a perennial spring.
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Fools usually know best that which the wise despair of ever comprehending.
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We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack.
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Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right.
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The sympathy of most people consists of a mixture of good-humour, curiosity, and self-importance.
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Imaginary evils are incurable.
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Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.
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There are very few honest friends--the demand is not particularly great.
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Many think they have a kind heart who have only weak nerves.
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Misanthropy is a suit of armor lined with thorns.
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Privilege is the greatest enemy of right.
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The world belongs to those who possess it, and is scorned by those to whom it should belong.
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As far as your self-control goes, as far goes your freedom.
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None are so inconsiderate as those who demand nothing of life other than their own personal comfort.
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A book cannot easily be too bad for the general public, but may easily be too good.
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Little evil would be done in the world if evil never could be done in the name of good.
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Not reading a beautiful book again because you've already read it, that is, as if you were not visiting a dear friend again because you know him already.
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What delights us in visible beauty is the invisible.
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I regret nothing, says arrogance; I will regret nothing, says inexperience.
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Nothing is so often and so irrevocably missed as the opportunity which crops up daily.
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To be content with little is hard; to be content with much, impossible.
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"People's minds are trained largely at the expense of their hearts." This is not so; it is only that there are more educable minds than there are educable hearts.
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A defeat borne with pride is also a victory.
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A man with lofty ideas is an uncomfortable neighbor.
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Accident is veiled necessity.
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Age either transfigures or petrifies.
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All that is due to us will be paid, although not perhaps by those to whom we have lent.
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An aphorism is the last link in a long chain of thought.
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An opinion may be controverted; a prejudice, never.
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Be the first to say something obvious and achieve immortality.
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Believe flatterers and you're lost; believe your enemies and you despair.
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Between being able to and actually doing something lies an ocean, and on its bottom rests all too often the wreck of willpower.
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Beware of the virtue which a man boasts is his.
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Blessed is trust, for it blesses both those who have it to give and those who receive it.
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Calmness is the graceful form of Confidence.
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Conquer but never triumph.
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Conquer, but don't triumph.
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Consider once before you give, twice before you receive, and a thousand times before you ask.
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Consider well before you immerse yourself in solitude whether your own company will be good for you.
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Deep learning doesn't shine.
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Distrust your judgment the moment you can discern the shadow of a personal motive in it.
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Do not consider yourself deprived because your dreams were not fulfilled; the truly deprived have never dreamed.
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Do not fear the ones who argue, but rather those who are evasive.
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Enthusiasm does not always speak for those who arouse it, but always for those who experience it.
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Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
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Even a stopped clock is right twice every day. After some years, it can boast of a long series of successes.
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Even virtue is an art; and even its devotees are divided into those who practise it and those who are merely amateurs.
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Generosity, to be perfect, should always be accompanied by a dash of humor.
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Genius points the way, talent takes it.
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Grace is the outcome of inward harmony.
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Happy slaves are the bitterest enemies of freedom
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Hatred is a prolific vice; envy, a barren vice.
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Have patience with the quarrelsomeness of the stupid. It is not easy to comprehend that one does not comprehend.
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He who has trusted where he ought not will surely mistrust where he ought not.
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He who says patience, says courage, endurance, strength.
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How happy are the pessimists! What joy is theirs when they have proved there is no joy.
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How wise must one be to be always kind.
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However much you paid for a beautiful illusion, you got a bargain.
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If there be a faith that can move mountains, it is faith in one's own power.
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If there is a believe that is capable to move mountains it is the believe in our own strength.
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In this world, all power rests upon force.
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In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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Indifference of every kind is reprehensible, even indifference towards one's self.
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It is unfortunate that superior talent and superior men are so seldom united.
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It's bad enough when married people bore one another, but it's much worse when only one of them bores the other.
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Kindness which is not inexhaustible does not deserve the name.
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Many priceless things can be bought.
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Many think that when they have confessed a fault there is no need of correcting it.
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Morals refine manners, as manners refine morals.
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Most imitators attempt the inimitable.
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Never expect women to be sincere, so long as they are educated to think that their first aim in life is to please.
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Never strive, O artist, to create what you are not irresistibly impelled to create!
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New happiness too must be learned to bear.
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No one is so eager to gain new experiences as he who doesn't know how to make use of the old ones.
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Nobody knows enough, but many know too much.
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Not every great man is a grand human being.
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Not what we experience, but how we perceive what we experience, determines our fate.
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Nothing is less promising than precocity. A young thistle is more like a future tree than is a young oak.
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Nothing is so irretrievably missed as an opportunity we encounter every day.
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Nothing makes us more cowardly and unconscionable than the desire to be loved by everyone.
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Nowadays people are born to find fault. When they look at Achilles, they see only his heel.
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Oh happy pessimists! What a joy it is to them to be able to prove again and again that there is no joy.
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Old age transfigures or fossilizes.
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One can acquire some virtues by feigning them for a long time.
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One has to do good in order for it to exist in the world.
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One of the main goals of self-education is to eradicate that vanity in us without which we would never have been educated.
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One remains young as long as one can still learn, can still take on new habits, can bear contradictions.
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One thought cannot awake without awakening others.
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Only the thinking man lives his life, the thoughtless man's life passes him by.
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Only those few people who practice it believe in goodness.
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Origins are of the greatest importance. We are almost reconciled to having a cold when we remember where we caught it.
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Our greatest indulgence towards a man springs from our despair of him.
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Pain is the great teacher of mankind. Beneath its breath souls develop.
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Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.
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Passion is always suffering, even when gratified.
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People more easily tolerate opposition than a contradiction
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Runners are poor walkers.
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Since the well-known victory over the hare by the tortoise, the descendants of the tortoise think themselves miracles of speed.
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So soon as a fashion is universal, it is out of date.
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That bad manners are so prevalent in the world is the fault of good manners.
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The believer who has never doubted will hardly convert a doubter.
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The greatest enemy of justice is privilege.
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The incurable ills are the imaginary ills.
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The insignificant labor; the great create.
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The little bit of truth contained in many a lie is what makes them so terrible.
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The manuscript in the drawer either rots or ripens.
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The mediocre always feel as if they're fighting for their lives when confronted by the excellent.
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The moral code which was good enough for our fathers is not good enough for our children.
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The poor never estimate as a virtue the generosity of the rich.
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The simplest and most familiar truth seems new and wonderful the instant we ourselves experience it for the first time.
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The understanding of some men is clear, that of others brilliant. The former illumines its surroundings; the latter obscures them.
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The wise man is seldom prudent.