Johann Kaspar Lavater

“Depend on no man, on no friend but him who can depend on himself. He only who acts conscientiously toward himself, will act so toward others.”

“What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought often to ask himself.”

“Him, who incessantly laughs in the street, you may commonly hear grumbling in his closet.”

“If you see one cold and vehement at the same time, set him down for a fanatic.”

“Mistrust the person who finds everything good, and the person who finds everything evil, and mistrust even more the person who is indifferent to everything.”

“If you wish to appear agreeable in society, you must consent to be taught many things which you know already.”

“Have you ever seen a pedant with a warm heart?”

“Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence.”

“The great rule of moral conduct is next to God, respect time.”

“The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages, of a great enterprise; the hero sees both; diminishes the former and makes the latter preponderate, and so conquers.”

“Intuition is the clear conception of the whole at once.”

“The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time.”

“Neatness begets order; but from order to taste there is the same difference as from taste to genius, or from love to friendship.”

“Action, looks, words, steps, form the alphabet by which you may spell character.”

“You are not very good if you are not better than your best friends imagine you to be.”

“He submits to be seen through a microscope, who suffers himself to be caught in a fit of passion.”

“Conscience is the sentinel of virtue.”

“You may depend upon it that he is a good man whose intimate friends are all good, and whose enemies are decidedly bad.”

“Trust him not with your secrets, who, when left alone in your room, turns over your papers.”

“Make this poor self grow less and less, Be Thou my life and aim ; Oh, make me daily, through Thy grace, More worthy of Thy name.”