An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that a good person remains consistent in their values, while a wicked person is unpredictable and changes based on circumstances.
John Locke's quote emphasizes the contrast between the nature of a virtuous individual and that of a villain. An excellent man, akin to precious metal, maintains his integrity and virtues without deviation, reflecting a steadfastness in character. On the other hand, a villain's moral compass is unstable, shifting based on what serves their interests, much like the variable movements of the balance beam. This comparison illustrates the idea that true excellence in character is marked by consistency, while villainy is defined by inconsistency and opportunism.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about personal integrity.
For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns; or can say that he has examined to the bottom all his own, or other men's opinions? The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.
There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
Our deeds disguise us. People need endless time to try on their deeds, until each knows the proper deeds for him to do. But every day, every hour, rushes by. There is no time.
New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word "fearlessness."
Getting well is not the only goal. Even more important is learning to live without fear, to be at peace with life and ultimately death.
The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyper real.
I wonder that we Americans love our country at all, it having no limits and no oneness; and when you try to make it a matter of the heart, everything falls away except one's native State; -neither can you seize hold of that, unless you tear it out of the Union, bleeding and quivering.
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
They stormed and jeered at one another in long meaningless words of about twenty syllables each.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.