Joseph Joubert

Writing is closer to thinking than to speaking.

A stupid lie is one that can never make itself believed.

Imprisoned in our bodies...and our soul has its windows.

Solitude gives an I. I that gives solitude. It is in our thoughts, and the one the world gives, in our feelings. Because solitude grows accustomed to seeing, to contemplating; and the world, to acting for itself.

Pride swells the brain. Vanity carries with it smoke, minds. Hatred tightens the heart. Love warms the lungs. Admiration stops the heart. We breathe through desire. We want to pump up all that delights, and dilates. Sadness is inaction. The love that comes from the blood, the love that comes from the soul.

It is better to be concerned with being than with nothingness. Dream therefore of what you still have rather than what you have lost.

I know too well what I am going to say. I know it too well before writing.

One always adds a little of one's soul to what one thinks.

Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.

There is an infinity of things one does well only through necessity.

Adventurous minds, which wait for and receive their ideas only from chance.

The things we know when not thinking of them.

A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.

When I had the strength, I did not have the patience. I have the patience today and I no longer have the power.

What man knows only through feeling can be explained only through enthusiasm.