That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.
Paul ValeryRead
Our judgments judge us, and nothing reveals us, exposes our weaknesses, more ingeniously than the attitude of pronouncing upon our fellows.
Interpretation
Our judgments of others reflect our own character and weaknesses.
This quote by Paul Valery suggests that when we judge others, it not only reveals our perceptions but also exposes our internal flaws and vulnerabilities. It highlights the irony that our criticisms and evaluations of others are often a mirror, reflecting our own insecurities and character rather than merely offering insights into the people we are judging.
In practice
In a discussion about social behavior, this quote can illustrate how our views of others may reveal more about ourselves.
That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.
Oh, hasten not this loving act, Rapture where self and not-self meet: My life has been the awaiting you, Your footfall was my own heart's beat.
The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds.
The world acquires value only through its extremes and endures only through moderation; extremists make the world great, the moderates give it stability.
It would be impossible to "love" anyone or anything one knew completely. Love is directed towards what lies hidden in its object.
You have certainly observed the curious fact that a given word which is perfectly clear when you hear it or use it in everyday language, and which does not give rise to any difficulty when it is engaged in the rapid movement of an ordinary sentence becomes magically embarrassing, introduces a strange resistance, frustrates any effort at definition as soon as you take it out of circulation to examine it separately and look for its meaning after taking away its instantaneous function.
But only in their dreams can men be truly free. It was always thus and always thus will be.
The world is filled with people who are no longer needed -- and who try to make slaves of all of us -- and they have their music and we have ours.
If a juror feels that the statute involved in any criminal offence is unfair, or that it infringes upon the defendant's natural god-given unalienable or constitutional rights, then it is his duty to affirm that the offending statute is really no law at all and that the violation of it is no crime at all, for no one is bound to obey an unjust law.
An almost perfect relationship with his father was the earthly root of all his wisdom. From his own father, he said, he first learned that Fatherhood must be at the core of the universe. [speaking of George MacDonald]
Oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises; and oft it hits where hope is coldest, and despair most fits.
The most important questions of life are indeed, for the most part, really only problems of probability.
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