Magnanimity Quotes - Page 2

• There still remains one effort of magnanimity, one sacrifice of prejudice and passion, to be made by the individuals throughout the nation who have heretofore followed the standards of political party. It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against each other, of embracing as countrymen and friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone that confidence which in times of contention for principle was bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of party communion.

  John Quincy Adams

  Party, Passion, Sacrifice

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• Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together.

  Edmund Burke

  Mind, Together, Politics

  Speech 'On Conciliation with America' 22 March 1775

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• The scenery of mountains painted on the ever-changing azure canvas of the sky, the mysterious mechanism of the human body, the rose, the green grass carpet, the magnanimity of souls, the loftiness of minds, the depth of love - all these things remind us of a God who is beautiful and noble.

  Paramahansa Yogananda

  Beautiful, Sky, Rose

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• A great empire and little minds go ill together.

  Edmund Burke

  Mind, Together, Littles

  Speech 'On Conciliation with America' 22 March 1775

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• Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.

  Winston Churchill

  Life, Inspiring, Graduation

  Speech at Harrow School, Harrow, England, 29 Oct. 1941

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• We are accustomed to the artist scoundrel or specialist in vice, and unaccustomed to the creator in whom passion and reason and moral integrity hold in balance. But greatness of intellect and feeling, or soul and conduct - magnanimity, in short - does occur; it is not a myth for boy scouts, and its reality is important, if only to give us the true range of the term "human," which we so regularly define by its lower reaches.

  Jacques Barzun

  Integrity, Passion, Artist

  Jacques Barzun's preface to the 3rd edition of his book "Berlioz and the Romantic Century", 1969.

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• As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.

  William James

  Sympathy, Lying, Justice

  William James (1985). “The Varieties of Religious Experience”, p.284, Harvard University Press

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• Few husbands (and the longer I observe, the more I am convinced of the truth of what I am about to say, and I make no exception in favor of education or station) have the magnanimity to use justly, generously, the power which the law puts in their hands.

  Fanny Fern

  Husband, Hands, Law

  Fanny Fern (2017). “Fresh Leaves”, p.257, Litres

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• The possession of arbitrary power has always, the world over, tended irresistibly to destroy humane sensibility, magnanimity, and truth.

  Frederick Law Olmsted

  Power, World, Arbitrary

  Frederick Law Olmsted (1856). “A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States: With Remarks on Their Economy”, p.115

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• Amnesty, n. The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Punishment, Would Be, Amnesty

  Ambrose Bierce (2001). “The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary”, p.15, University of Georgia Press

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• If appeasing our enemies is not the answer, neither is hating them.... Somewhere between the extremes of appeasement and hate there is a place for courage and strength to express themselves in magnanimity and charity, and this is the place we must find.

  Alfred Whitney Griswold

  Hate, Enemy, Answers

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• There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood bu those who hear it.

  William James

  Lying, Misunderstood, Statistics

  'The Varieties of Religious Experience' (1902) lectures 14 and 15, p. 355

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• If you desire to be magnanimous, undertake nothing rashly, and fear nothing thou undertakest; fear nothing but infamy; dare anything but injury; the measure of magnanimity is neither to be rash nor timorous.

  Francis Quarles

  Desire, Injury, Fear Nothing

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• In forgiving an injury be somewhat ceremonious, lest your magnanimity be construed as indifference.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Forgiving, Indifference, Injury

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8 Epigrams, On With the Dance, Negligible Tales”, p.238, tredition

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• The way I was raised and the people that I grew up around for the most part were very humble people, and I appreciate all that they taught me, and their energy and their magnanimity help keep me grounded.

  Lenny Kravitz

  Humble, People, Appreciate

  "Lenny Kravitz: Living and Loving Every Moment". Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

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• You might curb your magnanimity, and be more of an artist, and load every rift of your subject with ore.

  John Keats

  Artist, Rift, Might

  Letter to Shelley, August 1820, in H. E. Rollins (ed.) 'The Letters of John Keats' (1958) vol. 2, p. 323; echoing Edmund Spenser 'The Faerie Queen' (1596) bk. 2, canto 7, st. 28, l. 5: 'And with rich metal loaded every rift'

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• Magnanimity is above circumstance; and any virtue which depends on that is more of constitution than of principle.

  Jane Porter

  Principles, Constitution, Virtue

  Sir Philip Sidney, Jane Porter (1807). “Aphorisms of Sir Philip Sidney: With Remarks”, p.5

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• You I am sure will forgive me for sincerely remarking that you might curb your magnanimity and be more of an artist, and 'load every rift' of your subject with ore.

  Bob Dylan

  Artist, Forgive Me, Poetry

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• The magnanimity and sensibility of a lady who faints when she sees a calf being killed: she is so kindhearted that she can't look at blood, but enjoys eating the calf served up with sauce.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Blood, Sauce, Looks

  "War and Peace: With bonus material from Give War and Peace A Chance by Andrew D. Kaufman".

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• Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

  Winston Churchill

  Being Strong, Veterans Day, Stay Strong

  Winston Churchill (2012). “Churchill: The Power of Words”, p.395, Da Capo Press

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• Bush is almost always clear when he's speaking cruelly. For example, when the subject is the punitive infliction of great pain, there is no problem with his syntax, grammar, or vocabulary, even if he happens to be lying. ... On the other hand, our president is extraordinarily tongue-tied when he's trying, off the cuff, to sound a note of idealism, magnanimity or -- especially -- compassion.

  Mark Crispin Miller

  Pain, Lying, Compassion

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• Did you ever hear of a man who had striven all his life faithfully and singly towards an object, and in no measure obtained it? If a man constantly aspires, is he not elevated? Did ever a man try heroism, magnanimity, truth, sincerity, and find that there was no advantage in them,--that it was a vain endeavor?

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Trying, Heroism

  Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.357, Penguin

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• Art, if it is to be reckoned as one of the great values of life, must teach man humility, tolerance, wisdom and magnanimity. The value of art is not beauty, but right action.

  W. Somerset Maugham

  Art, Humility, Men

  W. Somerset Maugham (1954). “Mr. Maugham Himself”

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• There is nothing so charming as the knowledge of literature; of that branch of literature, I mean, which enables us to discover the infinity of things, the immensity of Nature, the heavens, the earth, and the seas; this is that branch which has taught us religion, moderation, magnanimity, and that has rescued the soul from obscurity; to make her see all things above and below, first and last, and between both; it is this that furnishes us wherewith to live well and happily, and guides us to pass our lives without displeasure and without offence.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Knowledge, Mean, Sea

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• What little recognition the idea of obligation to the public obtains in modern morality, is derived from Greek and Roman sources, not from Christian; as, even in the morality of private life, whatever exists of magnanimity, high-mindeness, personal dignity, even the sense of honour, is derived from the purely human, not the religious part of our education, and never could have grown out of a standard of ethics in which the only worth, professedly recognized, is that of obedience.

  John Stuart Mill

  Christian, Religious, Ideas

  "On Liberty". Philosophical work by John Stuart Mill, 1859.

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