The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Confidence contributes more to conversation than wit.
Interpretation
Confidence is more important than cleverness in conversations.
This quote suggests that having confidence in oneself is more valuable to effective communication than simply possessing witty remarks or clever arguments. It highlights the idea that the way we present ourselves and engage with others can have a greater impact than the substance of our words.
In practice
In a workshop on effective communication, you might say this quote to emphasize the importance of self-confidence.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
Instead of taking the reader by the hand and running him down the hill, I want to lead him into a house of many rooms, and leave him alone in each of them.
Pride deafens us to the advice or warnings of those around us.
It can be no dishonor to learn from others when they speak good sense.
We were a savage little lot, Liverpool kids, not pacifist or vegetarian or anything. But I feel I've gone beyond that, and that it was immature to be so prejudiced and believe in all the stereotypes.
As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has-or ever will have-something inside that is unique to all time.
It could be that one of the greatest hindrances to evangelism is the poverty of our own experience.
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