Never promise more than you can perform.
Publilius SyrusRead
You are in a pitiable condition if you have to conceal what you wish to tell.
Interpretation
Concealing your true thoughts or feelings puts you in a vulnerable position.
This quote by Publilius Syrus highlights the unfortunate state of being forced to hide one's true desires or intentions. It suggests that such concealment can lead to a sense of weakness or suffering, as authenticity is crucial for a fulfilling and honest life.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of honesty in relationships.
Never promise more than you can perform.
Pain forces even the innocent to lie.
In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.
Admonish your friends privately, but praise them openly.
What a tragedy is help where it harms what it supports!
The miser is as much in want of what he has as of what he has not.
I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost.
You can't judge an internal injury by the size of the hole.
And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five what remains?" "Three hundred and sixty-four, of course." Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful, "I'd rather see that done on paper," he said.
Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying.
When I was writing The Satanic Verses, if you had asked me about the phenomenon that we all now know as radical Islam, I wouldn't have had much to say. As recently as the mid-1980s, it didn't seem to be a big deal.
For, of course, being a girl, oneβs whole dignity and meaning in life consisted in the achievement of an absolute, a perfect, a pure and noble freedom. What else did a girlβs life mean?
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.