Quotes About Refinement

The technification of the world blunts one's sensibility and does not refine one's senses.

Vulgarity consists, basically, in being on first name terms with Plato or Goethe.

Hâtez-vous lentement, sans perdre courage. Vingt fois sur le métier, remettez votre ouvrage. Polissez-le sans cesse et le repolissez. Ajoutez quelquefois et souvent effacez.

the ladies of N. were pre-eminently careful and refined in their choice of words and phrases. Never did a lady say, "I blew my nose," or "I perspired," or "I spat." No, it had to be, "I relieved my nose through the expedient of wiping it with my handkerchief," and so forth.

I jadni mladi? zaklanjao bi lice rukama i ko zna koliko bi puta u svome životu poslije toga uzdrhtao, vide?i koliko je mnogo okrutne grubosti sakriveno u prefinjenim i ugla?enim ljudima i, bože, ?ak i u onom ?ovjeku koga društvo smatra plemenitim i ?estitim...

Wit ought to be a glorious treat, like caviar. Never spread it about like marmalade.

He who stops being better stops being good.

Stillness and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding. Vulgar persons can't sit still, or at least must always work their limbs and features.

Is this what all you refined gentlemen are like—wishing and pining and never acting?

Apparently when someone stays in a civilized kingdom too long, even his skin becomes delicate.

Vulgarity is simply the conduct of other people.

With an evening coat and a white tie, anybody, even a stockbroker, can gain a reputation for being civilized

You can never be overdressed or overeducated.

Perfection is immutable. But for things imperfect, change is the way to perfect them.

Az elég jó utolsó mondat volna, hogy a mindiget javítom örökkére.

On the pediment of the town hall, Death turns his sunglasses to mark the hours. No one takes any notice. it is eternal, this present. The world will gain little by continuing to evolve. This civilisation has reached its peak. A few details may need to be sorted out. some drugs could do with refining.

But as it happened, a team of chemists in Germany had recently managed to refine morphine into a new drug, heroin, which the German pharmaceutical company Bayer began to mass market as a wonder drug—a safer alternative to morphine. Heroin was created by the same research team that invented aspirin.

Off to one side his fine white teacup waited for him with a patience Aria envied

Better by a long road.

Sintió como la sangre caliente volvía a darle vida y como se apoderaba de él la voluntad de llevar a cabo lo que se había propuesto, incluso con más fuerza que antes, porque ahora la voluntad no tenía su origen en un simple anhelo, sino que había surgido de una decisión meditada… Poseía para ello una personalidad demasiado tenaz, un temperamento demasiado retorcido y un espíritu demasiado refinado.

Such was the texture of her marble. [In a description of Laura Trevelyan.]

If, instead of seeking approval, you ask, "What's wrong with it? How can I make it better?", you are more likely to get a truthful, critical answer

Suffering, gracefully accepted, refines the human heart, and the experience of darkness sharpens the vision of the spirit.

Less is more, more or less.