
“Children find everything in nothing, men find nothing in everything.”
Source: Zibaldone (2013) trans. Kathleen Baldwin et al., [527] ISBN 978-0374296827
Je ne trouve rien de si pénible que d'avoir à mener des hommes.
in his December 29 1816 letter to his uncle Léonor Mérimée, in [Œuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel, Imprimerie impériale, 1866, http://books.google.com/books?id=3QgAAAAAMAAJ, xviii]
Je ne trouve rien de si pénible que d'avoir à mener des hommes.
“Children find everything in nothing, men find nothing in everything.”
Source: Zibaldone (2013) trans. Kathleen Baldwin et al., [527] ISBN 978-0374296827
Source: 1960s, Strength to Love (1963), Ch. 1 : A tough mind and a tender heart
Context: The tough mind is sharp and penetrating, breaking through the crust of legends and myths and sifting the true from the false. The tough-minded individual is astute and discerning. He has a strong austere quality that makes for firmness of purpose and solidness of commitment.
Who doubts that this toughness is one of man's greatest needs? Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
Disputed
Original: (la) Qui se ultro morti offerant facilius reperiuntur quam qui dolorem patienter ferant.
Quoted in many works without citation
“I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.”
Consolation Grook, his first grook, published in Politiken (April 1940) as translated in Grooks (1966)
Grooks
“To lead men, you have to lead them with affection.”
His Biographers remark quoted in “Believing in Perfection” in New India Digest