When what you read elevates your mind and fills you with noble aspirations, look for no other rule by which to judge a book; it is good, and is the work of a master-hand.
Jean De La BruyereRead
Outward simplicity befits ordinary men, like a garment made to measure for them; but it serves as an adornment to those who have filled their lives with great deeds: they might be compared to some beauty carelessly dressed and thereby all the more attractive.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Simplicity is suitable for everyone, but it becomes more beautiful when worn by those who have accomplished great things.
This quote underscores the idea that while simplicity is a universal trait that can fit all individuals, it becomes particularly admirable and appealing when adorned by those whose lives are filled with significant achievements. Those who have made great contributions or have led meaningful lives carry their simplicity with a charm that highlights their merits, making them stand out even more.
Themes
SimplicityGreat DeedsBeautyWisdomAttractiveness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about leadership, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of humility in great leaders.
More from Jean De La Bruyere
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We seldom repent of speaking little, very often of speaking too much: a vulgar and trite maxim, which all the world knows and, but which all the world does not practice
Jean De La BruyereRead
False greatness is unsociable and remote: conscious of its own frailty, it hides, or at least averts its face, and reveals itself only enough to create an illusion and not be recognized as the meanness that it really is. True greatness is free, kind, familiar and popular; it lets itself be touched and handled, it loses nothing by being seen at close quarters; the better one knows it, the more one admires it.
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From time to time there appear on the face of the earth men of rare and consummate excellence, who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extraordinary stars of whose origins we are ignorant, and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race.
Jean De La BruyereRead
Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued.
Jean De La BruyereRead
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