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sincerity quotes

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“Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.” Aesop, Aesop's Fables
“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” Confucius, Analects
“A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.” Oscar Wilde, Intentions
“In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.” Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
“When you sit face to face with someone who is pleasant, respectful, and polite, you have a hard time reminding yourself that nothing he says is true, that nothing is sincere.” Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
“Few books are as fascinating as certain confessions: but they have to be sincere, and the author has to have something to confess.” Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
“For the egoism which enters into our theories does not affect their sincerity; rather, the more our egoism is satisfied, the more robust is our belief.” George Eliot, Middlemarch
“Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“Human society is founded on mutual deceit; few friendships would endure if each knew what his friend said of him in his absence, although he then spoke in sincerity and without passion.” Blaise Pascal, Pensées
“Men should be what they seem.” William Shakespeare, Othello
“All men of talent, whether they be men of feeling or not; whether they be zealots, or aspirants, or despots—provided only they be sincere—have their sublime moments, when they subdue and rule.” Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
“I could never make love if I didn’t love, and if I loved I could no more hide the fact than change the color of my eyes.” Marilyn Monroe, My Story
“I find that I have four things to learn in my school life here, and indeed, in life—to think clearly without hurry or confusion, to love everybody sincerely, to act in everything with the highest motives, and to trust in dear God unhesitatingly.” Helen Keller, The Story of My Life
“A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friendship
“I am not bound to please thee with my answer.” William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
“The lady protests too much, methinks.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“I expect he did it awkwardly, but awkwardness in men was a sign of sincerity then.” Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
“The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity.” Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History
“Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friendship
“I would not wish to be hasty in censuring anyone; but I always speak what I think.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
“Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” William Shakespeare, King Lear
“We should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not.” François de La Rochefoucauld, Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims

Related topics

friendship honesty hypocrisy deceit love men loneliness belief books speech danger appearance trust satisfaction importance hiding misfortune novelty principles ethics

Related authors

William Shakespeare (5)
Oscar Wilde (2)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (2)
Jane Austen (1)
Confucius (1)
Blaise Pascal (1)
George Eliot (1)
Margaret Atwood (1)
Simone de Beauvoir (1)
Aesop (1)
Milan Kundera (1)
Thomas Carlyle (1)
Marilyn Monroe (1)
Helen Keller (1)
Charlotte Brontë (1)
François de La Rochefoucauld (1)

Related sources

Hamlet (2)
Friendship (2)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1)
Pride and Prejudice (1)
Intentions (1)
Jane Eyre (1)
Analects (1)
The Merchant of Venice (1)
Middlemarch (1)
The Blind Assassin (1)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1)
The Second Sex (1)
The Story of My Life (1)
Othello (1)
King Lear (1)
My Story (1)
Aesop's Fables (1)
Pensées (1)
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1)
On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History (1)