“He irritably suspected himself of a tendency to make enemies unnecessarily.”
Source: The Pirates of Zan (1959), Chapter 3
“The praises of enemies are always to be suspected. A man of honor will not permit himself to be flattered by them, except when they are given after the cessation of hostilities.”
Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)
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Napoleon I of France 259
French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French 1769–1821Related quotes
“The young man should be praised, honored, and made immortal.”
Laudandum adulescentem, ornandum, tollendum.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
(-106–-43 BC) Roman philosopher and statesman
Ad Familiares 11.20.1; the reference is to Octavian, with tollendum carrying the implication of the youth's being slain and thus "made immortal".
“The lucky man is honored …
But earnest striving wins no praise at all.”
Theognis of Megara
(-570–-485 BC) Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC
Source: Elegies, Lines 169-170, as translated by Dorothea Wender.
“Though it becomes not man himself to praise.”
Ben che stia mal che l'uom se stesso lodi.
Canto XLIII, stanza 12 (tr. W. S. Rose)
Orlando Furioso (1532)
José de San Martín
(1778–1850) Argentine general and independence leader
Si hay victoria en vencer al enemigo, la hay más cuando el hombre se vence a si mismo.
100 Masones Su Palabra (2010)
“Man is wise … when he recognises no greater enemy than himself.”
Third Day, Novel XXX
L'Heptaméron (1558)
“He is truly a man who will not permit himself to be unduly elated when fortune’s breeze is favorable, or cast down when it is adverse.”
Is demum vir erit, cuius animum neque prosperae res flatu suo efferent nec adversae infringent
Livy
(-59–17 BC) Roman historian
Book XLV, sec. 8
History of Rome
“A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.”
Robert E. Lee
(1807–1870) Confederate general in the Civil War
"Definition of a Gentleman" http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/LEE/gentdef.html, a memorandum found in his papers after his death, as quoted in Lee the American (1912) by Gamaliel Bradford, p. 233
Context: The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.
The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly — the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.
The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which imparts sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.