The law is a gun, which if it misses a pigeon always kills a crow; if it does not strike the guilty, it hits someone else. As every crime creates a law, so in turn every law creates a crime.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
There are two lives to each of us, the life of our actions, and the life of our minds and hearts. History reveals men's deeds and their outward characters, but not themselves. There is a secret self that has its own life, unpenetrated and unguessed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the distinction between our external actions and our inner thoughts and feelings.
Bulwer-Lytton emphasizes the duality of human existence, where our public personas and actions are often visible and judged by society, while our true selves—comprising our thoughts, feelings, and inner experiences—remain hidden and known only to us. This underscores the complexity of identity, suggesting that we may present one version of ourselves to the world while harboring a secret self that is complex and multifaceted.
Themes
IdentitySelfMindActionsPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal growth, one might quote this to illustrate the importance of understanding one's inner self.
More from Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron Lytton
All quotes →The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.
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A chord, stronger or weaker, is snapped asunder in every parting, and time's busy fingers are not practiced in re-splicing broken ties. Meet again you may; will it be in the same way? With the same sympathies? With the same sentiments? Will the souls, hurrying on in diverse paths, unite once more, as if the interval had been a dream? Rarely, rarely!
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
No author ever drew a character consistent to human nature, but he was forced to ascribe to it many inconsistencies.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
Revenge is a common passion; it is the sin of the uninstructed. The savage deems it noble;but the religion of Christ, which is the sublime civilizer, emphatically condemns it. Why? Because religion ever seeks to ennoble man; and nothing so debases him as revenge.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
Fate! There is no fate. Between the thought and the success God is the only agent. Fate is not the ruler, but the servant of Providence.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
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