Johann Kaspar Lavater Quotes
Who partakes in another's joys is a more humane character than he who partakes in his griefs.
A gift--its kind, its value and appearance; the silence or the pomp that attends it; the style in which it reaches you--may decide the dignity or vulgarity of the giver.
The less you can enjoy, the poorer, the scantier yourself - the more you can enjoy, the richer, the more vigorous.
Who despises all that is despicable is made to be impressed with all that is grand.
He who goes round about in his requests wants commonly more than he chooses to appear to want.
Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it; nor at any time in the extremes of it.
Who forces himself on others is to himself a load. Impetuous curiosity is empty and inconstant. Prying intrusion may be suspected of whatever is little.
The proverbial wisdom of the populace in the street, on the roads, and in the markets instructs the ear of him who studies man more fully than a thousand rules ostentatiously displayed.
Three things characterize man: person, fate, merit--the harmony of these constitutes real grandeur.
Say not you know another entirely, till you have divided an inheritance with him.
He who when called upon to speak a disagreeable truth tells it boldly and has done is both bolder and milder than he who nibbles in a low voice and never ceases nibbling.
