Maxims Quotes - Page 2

• Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world, for he knows how to introduce the former at fit place in conversation.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Men, Anecdotes, World

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• When in reading we meet with any maxim that may be of use, we should take it for our own, and make an immediate application of it, as we would of the advice of a friend whom we have purposely consulted.

  Charles Caleb Colton

  Book, Reading, Advice

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• No choice maxims - we Stoics don't practice that kind of window dressing.

  Seneca the Younger

  Practice, Choices, Window Dressing

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• Always have a book at hand, in the parlor, on the table, for the family; a book of condensed thought and striking anecdote, of sound maxims and truthful apothegms. It will impress on your own mind a thousand valuable suggestions, and teach your children a thousand lessons of truth and duty. Such a book is a casket of jewels for your housebold.

  Tryon Edwards

  Children, Book, Hands

  Tryon Edwards (1866). “World's Laconics: Or, The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors in Prose and Poetry”, p.236

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• Good maxims are the germs of all excellence.

  Joseph Joubert

  Excellence, Germs

  Joseph Joubert (1896). “Pensées of Joubert”

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• The proverbist knows nothing of the two sides of a question. He knows only the roundness of answers.

  Karl Shapiro

  Two Sides, Answers, Knows

  Karl Shapiro (1964). “the Bourgeois Poet”

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• Do more than believe: practice.

  William Arthur Ward

  Motivational, Believe, Practice

  William Arthur Ward, “Do More”

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• No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.

  William James

  Success, Uplifting, Taken

  William James, Robert D Richardson (2010). “The Heart of William James”, p.112, Harvard University Press

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• Remember this maxim: When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. The way you perceive things is an extremely powerful tool that will allow you to fully bring the power of intention into your life.

  Wayne Dyer

  Powerful, Tools, Looks

  FaceBook post by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer from May 14, 2012

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• It is... a just political maxim, that every man must be supposed a knave.

  David Hume

  Men, Political, Politics

  David Hume (1825). “Essays and treatises on several subjects: essays, moral, political and literary”, p.37

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• No one seriously doubts Socrates' maxim: The unexamined life isn't worth living. Self-assessment and attempts at self-improvement are essential aspects of "the good life." Yes, we should engage in ruthless self-reflection and harsh scrutiny, but we should simultaneously acknowledge that such introspection will, at best, only result in a partial view of our minds at work. Complete objectivity is not an option.

  Robert A. Burton

  Good Life, Humility, Reflection

  Robert A. Burton, M.D., M.D. (2008). “On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not”, p.162, Macmillan

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• It is a maxim among these lawyers, that whatever hath been done before, may legally be done again: and therefore they take special care to record all the decisions formerly made against common justice and the general reason of mankind.

  Jonathan Swift

  Justice, Decision, Special

  Jonathan Swift, Dutton Kearney, Joseph Pearce (2010). “Gulliver's Travels”, p.279, Ignatius Press

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• It may not have the virtuous ring of the golden rule, but the maxim "never say never" is one of the most important in ethics.

  Julian Baggini

  Important, May, Golden

  "Never saying never to torture" by Julian Baggini, www.theguardian.com. May 11, 2011.

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• In spite of his practical ability, some of his experience had petrified into maxims and quotations.

  George Eliot

  Literature, Individualism, Spite

  George Eliot (2016). “Complete Works Of George Eliot”, p.3874, ShandonPress

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• In all our associations; in all our agreements let us never lose sight of this fundamental maxim - that all power was originally lodged in, and consequently is derived from, the people.

  George Mason

  Sight, Agreement, People

  George Mason's remarks on Annual Elections for the Fairfax Independent Company, circa April 1775.

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• Maxim for life: You get treated in life the way you teach people to treat you.

  Wayne Dyer

  Life, Karma, People

  FaceBook post by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer from Feb 15, 2010

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• Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields, or if it beats you sometimes, dare it again and you will succeed.

  William Makepeace Thackeray

  Life, Success, Men

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• Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical.

  Margaret Fuller

  Truth, Honesty, Heart

  Margaret Fuller, Arthur Buckminster Fuller (1856). “At home and abroad: or, Things and thoughts in America and Europe. Edited by Arthur B. Fuller”, p.54

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• There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.

  John Adams

  Inspirational, Trust, Freedom

  'Notes for an Oration at Braintree' (Spring 1772)

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• It is more trouble to make a maxim than it is to do right.

  Mark Twain

  Trouble

  Mark Twain (2015). “Following the Equator: "A Journey Around the World"”, p.42, eKitap Projesi

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• Free people, remember this maxim: we may acquire liberty, but it is never recovered if it is once lost.

  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  Freedom, People, Liberty

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• These maxims and the art of interpreting them may be said to constitute the premisses of science but I prefer to call them our scientific beliefs. These premisses or beliefs are embodied in a tradition, the tradition of science.

  Michael Polanyi

  Art, May, Belief

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• Where questions of style and exposition are concerned I try to follow a simple maxim: if you can't say it clearly you don't understand it yourself.

  John Searle

  Simple, Style, Trying

  "Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind". Book by John Searle, 1983.

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• Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.

  John Quincy Adams

  Power, People, Liberty

  "Novanglus or A History of the Dispute with America, From Its Origin in 1754 to the Present Time (Essay No. 3)". Essays by John Quincy Adams, first published in the Boston Gazette, 1774-1775.

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• Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly.

  Andre Gide

  Life, Success, Butterfly

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