Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom.
William PennRead
Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Flatterers manipulate by offering insincere praise, hiding their true intentions.
The quote by William Penn cautions against the dangers of flattery, suggesting that those who flatter do so with ulterior motives, essentially stealing one's trust and sincerity. Flatterers are often deceptive individuals who can lead us astray under the guise of compliments, making it crucial to remain aware of their intentions to protect our integrity and relationships.
Themes
FlatteryTrustDeceptionRelationshipsCaution
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about maintaining authentic relationships.
More from William Penn
All quotes →Where thou art Obliged to speak, be sure speak the Truth: For Equivocation is half way to Lying, as Lying, the whole way to Hell.
William PennRead
Man, being made reasonable, and so a thinking creature, there is nothing more worthy of his being than the right direction and employment of his thoughts; since upon this depends both his usefulness to the public, and his own present and future benefit in all respects.
William PennRead
Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good.
William PennRead
To be a man's own fool is bad enough, but the vain man is everybody's.
William PennRead
Unless virtue guide us our choice must be wrong.
William PennRead
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Marcel ProustRead
It [a new world order] needs only that the governments of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia should get together in order to set up an effective control of currency, credit, production, and distribution – that is to say, an effective ‘dictatorship of prosperity,’ for the whole world. The other sixty odd States would have to join in or accommodate themselves to the over-ruling decisions of these major Powers.
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Christian living means dying with Christ and rising again. That, as we saw, is part of the meaning of baptism, the starting point of the Christian pilgrimage.
N. T. WrightRead
Whoever claims the right to redistribute the wealth produced by others is claiming the right to treat human beings as chattel.
Ayn RandRead
Of all the animal creations of God, main is the only animal who has been created in order that he may know his Maker. Man's aim is life is not therefore to add from day to day to his material prospects and to his material possessions, but his predominant calling is, from day to day to come nearer to his own Maker.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Every walker is a guard on patrol to protect the ineffable.
Rebecca SolnitRead