"Never tell evil of a man, if you do not know it for certainty, and if you know it for a certainty, then ask yourself, 'Why should I tell it?'"

Johann Kaspar Lavater Literature See all quotes by Johann Kaspar Lavater →

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“The public seldom forgive twice.”

“The more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint — the affectation of sanctity is a blotch on the face of piety.”

“There are but three classes of men — the retrograde, the stationary, the progressive.”

“Too much gravity argues a shallow mind.”

“He who, when called upon to speak a disagreeable truth, tells it boldly and has done, is both bolder and milder than he who nibbles in a low voice, and never ceases nibbling.”

“Neatness begets order; but from order to taste there is the same difference as from taste to genius, or from love to friendship.”

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