Sydney Smith

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to read more

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.

Learn from the earliest days to insure your principles against the perils of ridicule; you can no more exercise your read more

Learn from the earliest days to insure your principles against the perils of ridicule; you can no more exercise your reason if you live in the constant dread of laughter, that you can enjoy your life if you are in the constant terror of death.

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not read more

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.

One of the best methods of rendering study agreeable is to live
with able men, and to suffer all read more

One of the best methods of rendering study agreeable is to live
with able men, and to suffer all those pangs of inferiority which
the want of knowledge always inflicts.

Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660 The greatest curse which read more

Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660 The greatest curse which can be entailed upon mankind is a state of war. All the atrocious crimes committed in years of peace -- all that is spent in peace by the secret corruptions or by the thoughtless extravagances of nations -- are mere trifles compared with the gigantic evils which stalk over the world in a state of war. God is forgotten in war -- every principle of Christian charity is trampled upon.