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An entirely honest man, in the severe sense of the word, exists no more than an entirely dishonest knave; the best and the worst are only approximations to those qualities. Who are those that never contradict themselves? yet honesty never contradicts itself. Who are they that always contradict themselves? yet knavery is mere self-contradiction. Thus the knowledge of man determines not the things themselves, but their proportions, the quantum of congruities and incongruities.

— Johann Kaspar Lavater Attributed Forty Thousand Quotations (1917)

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More quotes by Johann Kaspar Lavater

Let none turn over books, or roam the stars in quest of God, who sees him not in man.

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Where there is much pretension, much has been borrowed — nature never pretends.

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If you see one cold and vehement at the same time, set him down for a fanatic.

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All affectation is the vain and ridiculous attempt of poverty to appear rich.

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Good can be done by the bad — but the good alone can be good.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Johann Kaspar Lavater (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.