Nothing great has ever been accomplished without passion.
All men are liable to error and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.
Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.
I have only one passion, that for light, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and which has the right to happiness.
The passions have taught men reason.
Background photo by Gleb Lukomets on Unsplash
Only the passions, the great passions, can lift the soul to the greatest things.
Intelligence is the eye of the soul, not its strength. Its strength is in the heart, that is, in the passions.
To grow old is to pass from passion to compassion.
There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
The time at our disposal each day is elastic the passions we feel dilate it, those that inspire us shrink it, and habit fills it.
An infinity of passion can be contained in one minute, like a crowd in a small space.
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions.
Passion makes a man live; wisdom only makes him last!
Conscience is the voice of the soul; the passions are the voice of the body.
To avoid covetousness is to conquer a kingdom.
If there is a pure love, exempt from the mixture of our other passions, it is that which is concealed at the bottom of the heart and of which even ourselves are ignorant.
In the human heart there is a perpetual generation of passions; so that the ruin of one is almost always the foundation of another.
Blessed is he who has overcome all passions and then proceeds energetically to perform his duties under all circumstances careless of success! Let the motive lie in the deed, not in the outcome.
It's easier to dominate a people by exciting their passions than by looking after their interests.
Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish.
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.
People are often vain of their passions, even of the worst, but envy is a passion so timid and shame-faced that no one ever dare avow her.
Whatever care we take to conceal our passions under the appearances of piety and honour, they are always to be seen through these veils.
Passions often produce their contraries: avarice sometimes leads to prodigality, and prodigality to avarice; we are often obstinate through weakness and daring though timidity.
The passions possess a certain injustice and self interest which makes it dangerous to follow them, and in reality we should distrust them even when they appear most trustworthy.
The passions are the only advocates which always persuade. They are a natural art, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without.
Great and striking actions which dazzle the eyes are represented by politicians as the effect of great designs, instead of which they are commonly caused by the temper and the passions. Thus the war between Augustus and Anthony, which is set down to the ambition they entertained of making themselves masters of the world, was probably but an effect of jealousy.
Passion often renders the most clever man a fool, and even sometimes renders the most foolish man clever.
The duration of our passions is no more dependant upon us than the duration of our life.
Background photo by Gleb Lukomets on Unsplash
