Letter to John Tyndall (19 April 1851); letter 2411, edited by
Context: I have far more confidence in the one man who works mentally and bodily at a matter than in the six who merely talk about it — and I therefore hope and am fully persuaded that you are working. Nature is our kindest friend and best critic in experimental science if we only allow her intimations to fall unbiased on our minds. Nothing is so good as an experiment which, whilst it sets an error right, gives us (as a reward for our humility in being reproved) an absolute advancement in knowledge.
“Our most intimate friend is not he to whom we show the worst, but the best of our nature.”
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Nathaniel Hawthorne 128
American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879) 1804–1864Related quotes
“Thou through such a mist dost show us,
That our best friends do not know us.”
A Farewell to Tobacco (1805)
“Your Worst Enemy Could Be Your Best Friend && Your Best Friend Your Worst Enemy”
2000s, 2001, A Great People Has Been Moved to Defend a Great Nation (September 2001)
“In the misfortunes of our best friends, we always find something not unpleasing.”
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Friendship
“Every mode of technology is a reflex of our most intimate psychological experience.”
Source: 1990s and beyond, The Book of Probes : Marshall McLuhan (2011), p. 171
“Paper is my best friend and paper seller is my worst friend!”
Quoted in Humor & Caricature (April 1995), p. 3
“In the adversity of our best friends we often find something that is not exactly displeasing.”
Dans l'adversité de nos meilleurs amis, nous trouvons toujours quelque chose qui ne nous déplaît pas.
Maxim 99. This maxim is found only in the 1665 edition, and was removed by the author in later editions.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)