We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
OvidRead
Envy assails the noblest: the winds howl around the highest peaks.
Interpretation
Even the greatest individuals are subject to envy and challenges.
This quote by Ovid suggests that envy is a universal feeling that can affect even the most esteemed or accomplished people. Just as strong winds can batter the tallest peaks, people of high status or virtue are not immune to jealousy and opposition, highlighting the vulnerabilities that accompany greatness.
In practice
During a speech about overcoming obstacles in life, one could use this quote to emphasize that even the best among us face challenges.
We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
All things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins.
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
Fas est ab hoste doceri._x000D_ One should learn even from one's enemies.
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.
The end doesn't justify the means.
One may say that in a state of science where fundamental concepts have to be changed, tradition is both the condition for progress and a hindrance. Hence, it usually takes a long time before the new concepts are generally accepted.
He reproduced himself with so much humble objectivity, with the unquestioning, matter of fact interest of a dog who sees himself in a mirror and thinks: there's another dog.
I don’t envision a long life for myself. Like, I think my life will run out before my work does, y’know? I’ve designed it that way.
If we open our history books, we shall see that the laws, for all that they are or should be contracts amongst free men, have rarely been anything but the tools of the passions of a few men or the offspring of a fleeting and haphazard necessity.
One could only damage oneself through the harm one did to others. One could never get directly at oneself.
Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone.
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