Echoes

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.

He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.

Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.

Those who are fond of praising men to their faces are also fond of damning them behind their backs.

If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.

No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader's intelligence, or whose attitude is patronizing.

Whoever gives reverence receives reverence.

If the public thought elevates you above the generality of men, let the other humble you, and hold you in a perfect equality with all mankind, for this is your natural condition.

If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few.

The fault is in the one who blames. Spirit sees nothing to criticize.

When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you.

Only the great generalizations survive. The sharp words of the Declaration of Independence, lampooned then and since as 'glittering generalities,' have turned out blazing ubiquities that will burn forever and ever.

When you are content to be simply yourself, everybody will respect you.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

I have heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck.

If you act externally with men in conformity with your rank, you should recognize, by a more secret but truer thought, that you have nothing naturally superior to them.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.

I have had three personal ideals: One to do the day's work well and not to bother about tomorrow. You may say that is not a satisfactory ideal. It is; and there is not one which the student can carry with him into practice with greater effect. To it more than anything else I owe whatever success I have had — to this power of settling down to the day's work and trying to do it well to the best of my ability, and letting the future take care of itself. The second ideal has been to act the Golden Rule, as far as in me lay, toward my professional brethren and toward the patients committed to my care. And the third has been to cultivate such a measure of equanimity as would enable me to bear success with humility, the affection of my friends without pride, and to be ready when the day of sorrow and grief came, to meet it with the courage befitting a man. What the future has in store for me, I cannot tell — you cannot tell. Nor do I care much, so long as I carry with me, as I shall, the memory of the past you have given me. Nothing can take that away.

From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step.

The finest manners in the world are awkwardness and fatuity, when contrasted with a finer intelligence.

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

Plato is my friend — Aristotle is my friend — but truth is a greater friend.