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A great man, I take it, is a man so inspired and permeated with the ideas of God and the Christly spirit as to be too magnanimous for vengeance, and too unselfish to seek his own ends.

— David Thomas Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

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More quotes by David Thomas

Amusements are to religion like breezes of air to the flame; gentle ones will fan it, but strong ones will put it out.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Unselfish and noble acts are the most radiant epochs in the biography of souls.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Every sinful act is another cord woven into that mighty cable of habit, which binds the spirit to the throne of darkness.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

How free from every thing like art were the reasonings and language of Christ.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Truth does not require your painting, brother; it is itself beauty. Unfold it, and men will be captivated. Take your brush to set off the rainbow, or give a new tinge of splendor to the setting sun, but keep it away from the "Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley."

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

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We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known.

Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook (1962)

To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.

Confucius

Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power.

Martin Buber Between Man and Man (1965)

The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

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