Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.
Interpretation
Some concise statements encapsulate profound truths, leaving no room for further discussion.
This quote reflects the power of words and the impact of succinct expressions. Jean Rostand suggests that certain brief sentences possess a unique quality that conveys deep meaning, rendering them so complete that they eliminate the need for additional commentary. Such sentences can evoke strong feelings and encapsulate truths that resonate profoundly with people, highlighting the beauty and effectiveness of simplicity in communication.
In practice
During a speech on effective communication, one might quote this to emphasize the power of brevity.
If a given scientist had not made a given discovery, someone else would have done so a little later. Johann Mendel dies unknown after having discovered the laws of heredity: thirty-five years later, three men rediscover them. But the book that is not written will never be written. The premature death of a great scientist delays humanity; that of a great writer deprives it.
My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.
We spend our time envying people whom we wouldn't wish to be.
Stupidity, outrage, vanity, cruelty, iniquity, bad faith, falsehood - we fail to see the whole array when it is facing in the same direction as we.
When a scientist is ahead of his times, it is often through misunderstanding of current, rather than intuition of future truth. In science there is never any error so gross that it won't one day, from some perspective, appear prophetic.
A few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us worthy of using it.
People have more freedom to bring more of their personal qualities into the role they play once they have established themselves and their competence is no longer in question. But this is always within limits.
The Bible says today is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation... But there will come a time when it will be too late for you.
Not knowing everything is all that makes it OK, sometimes.
All I can say is that it's amazing what you can accomplish when you're young and foolish.
You must know for which harbor you are headed, if you are to catch the right wind to take you there.
Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.
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