Human beings can understand our history thanks to the written memory that has been bequeathed to us through the centuries. This allows us to understand how we have reached our days and the way in which we have done it. However, it is curious to see that the opinions and questions that the people of yesteryear raised are still essentially the same or related to the same questions .
Below we offer you a list of phrases pronounced by some of the most famous personalities of all time and that express their way of thinking about different vital aspects and human nature.
- You may be interested: 40 phrases that will make you rethink your life.
40 famous phrases about human nature
Here we propose a list of 40 phrases that may make you change in some way your consideration of the human race. You will see that some appeal to concepts such as friendship, truth, others are about love or different ways of interpreting what life is like:
1. Boredom is the maximum expression of indifference (Ricardo Leon)
With this phrase, the writer and Spanish poet encourages us not to stop performing tasks in order to stimulate our creativity.
2. To err is human, to persevere in error is diabolical (St. Augustine)
Or what would be the same, that we learn from our mistakes and avoid making them again.
3. The pessimist is an experienced optimist (Francois Truffaut)
What do you think of this phrase from the genius of French cinema
? Is he guilty of negativism or is he being realistic?
Sometimes pessimism is not just seeing the glass as half empty .
4. There is something more important than logic: imagination (Alfred Hitchcock)
It is good to read such a sentence from a mind like that of the magician of suspense. For Hitchcock, creative capacity was only stimulated by letting the imagination fly .
5. Do not wait for your ship to arrive, swim towards it (Anonymous)
That is, if we want something, we fight to get it, until we achieve it.
6. I prefer to annoy with the truth than to please with flattery (Seneca)
A controversial truth for the days that we live where political correctness prevails and it is very easy to offend others . What would someone like Seneca
do today? Would they be able to silence him?
7. Always forgive your enemy, there is nothing that offends him more (Oscar Wilde)
The writer of The Canterville Ghost knew how to be controversial thanks to his acid wit.
8. You can trust bad people, they never change (William Faulkner) We don’t know what kind of people the famous American poet
rubbed shoulders with , but it’s clear that they didn’t leave him too good a memory.
9. Only those who dare to fail big can succeed big (Robert F. Kennedy)
A phrase dedicated to the ambitious from the hand of JFK’s little brother, who would suffer a horrible death at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
10. I used to complain that I had no shoes, until I ran into someone who had no feet (English proverb)
Quite a statement. The truth is that there is a certain tendency to focus only on our misfortunes and we make the mistake of ignoring all the good things we have. Let’s learn to appreciate it .
11. Not admiring anything is even more foolish than admiring everything. It comes to the same thing as not looking at anything (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
In this world not everything can cause us the same sensations; we have to know what we like or motivates us and what barely stimulates us.
12. Hunters catch hares with dogs; many men catch the ignorant with flattery (Plutarch)
For the Greek philosopher, using flattery is a good way to detect the ignorant; so that those who are more cautious will not respond to praise.
13. When a great joy overwhelms you, do not promise anything to anyone; when a great anger invades you, do not answer any letter (Chinese proverb)
The wisdom of the ancient Chinese always so successful. On this occasion we are advised not to let our emotions control usno longer do anything that could compromise us in the future.
14. There are two ways to achieve happiness: one, play the idiot; another, to be (Enrique Jardiel Poncela)
What do you think
? Only a fool can be happy in this world ? Is it true that ignorance is a sign of happiness?
15. Good times must be manufactured; the bad ones come alone (Joaquin Vargas Gomez)
Many people consider that this life is full of bad experiences that occur throughout different moments. For this reason, we must take care of creating as many beautiful moments as possible, to compensate with those that are more bitter than mere existence already gives us.
16. Ambition is the wealth of the poor (Marcel Pagnol)
The French filmmaker considered that having ambition was the way that people without vital concerns had to set goals in life.
17. Do you want to count your friends
Fall into misfortune (Napoleon)
It is often said that friends can be counted on the fingers of one hand. We are not very clear if the famous military man was completely wrong or if he was absolutely right .
18. A friend is someone who accepts our limits but seeks our progress (Anonymous)
What do you prefer ? Someone who pushes you to the limit, or someone who just gives you a pat on the back without stimulating you beyond
19. The real friend is the one who knows everything about you and is still your friend (Kurt Cobain)
Nirvana’s frontman wasn’t always the charismatic guitarist who took to the stage. In private, he had a very dark inner world that not everyone knew.
- If you like this singer, you may be interested: 20 mythical songs that you know by heart.
20. Loving someone to try to change him means murdering him (Igor Caruso)
A phrase that should be engraved on fire by all those who try to model their partner according to their tastes and preferences, nullifying them as people.
21. Saying ‘I love you’ is a conversation, not a message (Douglas Stone)
Sometimes, letting go of this pearl so coveted by some is quite a challenge for some people, especially if they are shy or have a hard time expressing their feelings .
22. Mirrors are used to see oneself reflected; art is used to see the soul (George Bernard Shaw)
For people in the artistic disciplines, art serves as an introspective instrument through whichExpress your most personal thoughts and emotions .
23. Tell me what you think you are and I’ll tell you what you’re not (Henri Frederic Amiel)
In short: don’t be pretentious. What you say about yourself rarely corresponds to reality, so take a dose of humility before talking about what.
24. Few see what we are, but everyone sees what we appear (Nicolas Machiavelli)
In this society in which appearances are valued more than what we decide not to show, it is worth claiming that, even if they try to make us believe otherwise , we are not only what you see from the outside .
25. The fear of danger is ten thousand times worse than the danger itself (Daniel Defoe)
Let us remember that one of the most famous works of literature is Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe himself. In it, a castaway must survive on an abandoned island , a situation that will force him to face his own fears if he hopes to survive.
26. There are only two important things in life: the first is sex…And the second I don’t remember (Woody Allen)
Very sharp, Woody. I understand they say that too much sex impairs memory . I was there the other day… Where was I?
Well, I don’t remember…
27. Nothing lasts forever, not even your problems (Arnold H. Galsow)
If you are one of those people who drowns in a glass of water, this type of prayer can help you open your eyes and discover that nothing is ever as terrible as it seems. Everything ends .
28. I do not want to be free from danger, I just want the courage to face them (Gabriel Marcel)
It is not the danger in the face of new challenges that sometimes immobilizes us, but the lack of courage that is required for it .
29. Life is a poorly edited movie (Fernando Trueba)
It’s true, that’s why in the movie of our lives we can’t cut scenes that we don’t like or add others to the final footage. A shame, because more than one would spend the whole day in the editing room.
30. The three diseases of today’s man are isolation, the technological revolution and his life focused on his personal triumph (Jose Saramago)
A very ideal phrase for the current reality in which we live. The expansion of technology and its infiltration in all aspects of the life of human beings is gradually taking away from us what makes us what we are and turning us against each other in favor of victory.
31. I never stop remembering that just existing is fun (Katherine Hepburn)
The insightful and versatile Katherine Hepburn was a whirlwind of optimism, which can be seen in her different works. A whole lesson for when discouragement spreads .
32. Don’t fill life with years, fill your years with life (Anonymous) In
other words, let’s make good use of the time we have, since we never know how long it will last .
33. The most important thing is not the end of the road, but the road. Whoever travels too fast misses the essence of the journey (Louis L’Amour)
Sometimes it is convenient to remind ourselves that the goal in this life is the journey itself through the years; and that there is no final goal . Let’s relax and enjoy while we can.
34. The intuition of a woman is more precise than the certainty of a man (Rudyard Kipling)
Is this true ? Do women have a sixth sense that does not accustom them to fail?
35. True communication occurs when the parties are not afraid (Ken Blanchard)
We must not be afraid to reveal what we feel if we are to feel good that way. That if, using a respectful language with our interlocutor . The right to express oneself cannot be used to trample on others.
36. People are not remembered by the number of times they fail, but by the number of times they succeed (Thomas Alva Edison)
Do not be afraid to fall as many times as necessary in order to achieve what you set out to do. The question is to achieve it , not how many attempts it has taken you to do it.
37. He who wants to scratch the moon will scratch his heart (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
While it’s okay to have ambition, we shouldn’t get carried away with it. The goals we set for ourselves must always be realistic according to our reality, because it would be useless to pursue something that is too far from it.
38. For those who are afraid, everything is noise (Sophocles)
Fear is an emotion that blocks any option to flee from it, that’s why when we feel it we don’t see any way out, no matter how obvious it may be .
39. Man resorts to the truth only when he is short of lies (Juan Jose Arreola)
There has always been a debate about whether man is good or bad by nature . If he was good, then why do we resort to lying more often than we would like?
40. The worst thing about inferiority complexes is that the wrong people have them (Alain Deloin)
Many times we are very clear why there are people with complexes for no reason and others who, having them in abundance, do not try to hide them more often .
- Maybe you’re interested: 20 phrases about power and its consequences.
