Quotes About Humanity

Let the rich man rediscover the poor one; the free man the pisoner; and the resurrected man the corpse.

Les hommes vraiment généreux sont toujours prêts à devenir compatissants, lorsque le malheur de leur ennemi dépasse les limites de leur haine.

men who are truly generous are always ready to compassionate when the misfortune of their enemy surpasses the limits of their hatred.

Misfortune is sometimes needed to plumb certain understandings of the actions of man.

Notre déjeuner est un déjeuner philanthropique, et nous aurons à notre table, je l'espère du moins, deux bienfaiteurs de l'humanité. – Comment ferons-nous ? dit Debray, nous n'avons qu'un prix Montyon ? – Eh bien, mais on le donnera à quelqu'un qui n'aura rien fait pour l'avoir, dit Beauchamp. C'est de cette façon-là que d'ordinaire l'Académie se tire d'embarras.

Sauver un homme, épargner un tourment à un père, ménager la sensibilité d'une femme, ce n'est point faire une bonne oeuvre, c'est faire acte d'humanité.

And now," said the unknown, "farewell kindness, humanity, and gratitude! Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart! I have been heaven's substitute to recompense the good—now the god of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked!

Et maintenant, dit l'homme inconnu, adieu bonté, humanité, reconnaissance... adieu à tous les sentiments qui épanouissent le coeur! ... Je me suis substitué à la Providence pour récompenser les bons... que le Dieu vengeur me cède sa place pour punir les méchants! (p. 396)

Los hombres generosos son siempre compasivos, cuando la desgracia de su adversario es mayor que su odio.

There are other things to fear, Monsieur,' Villefort said, 'apart from death, old age and madness. For example, apoplexy, that lightning bolt which strikes you down without destroying you, yet after which all is finished. You are still yourself, but you are no longer yourself: from a near-angel like Ariel you have become a dull mass which, like Caliban, is close to the beasts. As I said, in human language, this is quite simply called an apoplexy or stroke.

Oh, o homem (...), o mais egoísta de todos os animais, a mais personalista de todas as criaturas, sempre a acreditar que a terra gira, que o sol brilha, que a morte ceifa só para ele; formiga a amaldiçoar Deus do alto de uma folha de relva!

L'homme ne sera parfait que lorsqu'il saura créer et détruire comme Dieu ; il sait déjà détruire, c'est la moitié du chemin de fait.

la maldad de los hombres es muy profunda!

Omul nu va fi perfect decat atunci cand va sti sa creeze si sa distruga ca Dumnezeu. Deja stie sa distruga, deci jumatate din drum e facut.

It was not man who implanted in himself what is infinite and the love of what is immortal: those lofty instincts are not the offspring of his capricious will; their steadfast foundation is fixed in human nature, and they exist in spite of his efforts. He may cross and distort them – destroy them he cannot. The soul wants which must be satisfied; and whatever pains be taken to divert it from itself, it soon grows weary, restless, and disquieted amidst the enjoyments of sense.

From this foul drain the greatest stream of human industry flows out to fertilize the whole world. From this filthy sewer gold flows. Here humanity attains its most complete development and its most brutish, here civilization works its miracles and civilized man is turned almost into a savage.

In such an admirable position of the New World, man has no other enemy than himself.

Sixty years is too brief a compass for man's imagination. The incomplete joys of this world can never satisfy his heart.

Nothing tends to materialise man, and to deprive his work of the faintest trace of mind, more than extreme division of labour.

Je hais, pour ma part, ces systèmes absolus, qui font dépendre tous les événements de l'histoire de quelques causes premières se liant les unes aux autres par une chaîne fatale, et qui suppriment, pour ainsi dire, les hommes de l'histoire du genre humain. Je les trouve étroits dans leur prétendue grandeur, et faux sous leurs airs de vérités mathématiques.

Reste donc la charité particulière; celle là ne saurait produire que des effets utiles. Sa faiblesse même garantit contre ses dangers; elle soulage beaucoup de misères et n'en fait point naître.

Each of them, withdrawn and apart, is like a stranger to the destiny of all the others; his children and his particular friends form the whole human species for him; as for dwelling with his fellow citizens, he is beside them, but he does not see them; he touches them and does not feel them; he exists only in himself and for himself alone, and if a family still remains for him, one can at least say that he no longer has a native country.

To be a human being means to possess a feeling of inferiority which constantly presses towards its own conquest. The greater the feeling of inferiority that has been experienced, the more powerful is the urge for conquest and the more violent the emotional agitation.

To be human means to feel inferior.