We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.
Alexandre DumasRead
I prefer the wicked rather than the foolish. The wicked sometimes rest.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that it is better to deal with cunning individuals than with naive ones, as the former can sometimes take a break from their negativity.
Alexandre Dumas' quote reflects a profound understanding of human nature, emphasizing that wickedness can have periods of rest, allowing for moments of reflection, whereas foolishness lacks such depth and can lead to relentless folly. It insinuates that the cunning can be more predictable and manageable, while the foolish may continuously cause chaos due to their lack of insight.
In practice
In a discussion about morality, this quote can highlight the complexities of human behavior.
We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.
There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.
I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.
It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising
It is not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters.
The business (and person) who tries to be everything to everyone ends up being nothing to anyone.
Repetition is not failure. Ask the waves, ask the leaves, ask the wind.
Economists have allowed themselves to walk into a trap where we say we can forecast, but no serious economist thinks we can. You don't expect dentists to be able to forecast how many teeth you'll have when you're 80. You expect them to give good advice and fix problems.
This truth is a remedy against spiritual pride, namely, that none should account himself better before God than others, though perhaps adorned with greater gifts, and endowments.
It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become prey to the active. The conditions upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime, and the punishment of his guilt.
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