A noble soul alone can noble souls attract;
And knows alone, as ye, to hold them.
[Ger., read more

A noble soul alone can noble souls attract;
And knows alone, as ye, to hold them.
[Ger., Ein edler Mensch zieht edle Menschen an,
Und weiss sie fest zu halten, wie ihr thut.]

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

Fond man! though all the heroes of your line
Bedeck your halls, and round your galleries shine
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Fond man! though all the heroes of your line
Bedeck your halls, and round your galleries shine
In proud display; yet take this truth from me--
Virtue alone is true nobility!

Whoe'er amidst the sons
Of reason, valor, liberty and virtue,
Displays distinguished merit, is a noble
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Whoe'er amidst the sons
Of reason, valor, liberty and virtue,
Displays distinguished merit, is a noble
Of Nature's own creating.

Ay, these look like the workmanship of heaven;
This is the porcelain clay of human kind,
And read more

Ay, these look like the workmanship of heaven;
This is the porcelain clay of human kind,
And therefore cast into these noble moulds.

Titles are marks of honest men, and wise:
The fool or knave that wears a title lies.

Titles are marks of honest men, and wise:
The fool or knave that wears a title lies.

Be noble! And the nobleness that lies in other men, sleeping, but never dead, will rise in majesty to meet read more

Be noble! And the nobleness that lies in other men, sleeping, but never dead, will rise in majesty to meet thine own

Noble by birth, yet nobler by great deeds.

Noble by birth, yet nobler by great deeds.

Respect the man of noble races other than your own, who carries out, in a different place, a combat parallel read more

Respect the man of noble races other than your own, who carries out, in a different place, a combat parallel to yours -- to ours. He is your ally. He is our ally, be he at the other end of the world. Love all living things whose humble task is not opposed in any way to yours, to ours: men with simple hearts, honest, without vanity and malice, and all the animals, because they are beautiful, without exception and without exception indifferent to whatever "idea" there may be. Love them, and you will see the eternal in the glance of their eyes of jet, amber, or emerald. Love also the trees, the plants, the water that runs though the meadow and on to the sea without knowing where it goes; love the mountain, the desert, the forest, the immense sky, full of light or full of clouds; because all these exceed man and reveal the eternal to you.