Quotes by Henryk Sienkiewicz

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If it were not beautified by art, life itself would be dry, and would often show you a monkey's face.

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The truth is not always the same as your own opinion

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Selfishness is the wool that plugs your ears so you don't hear the groans of humanity.

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What you sow in your youth, you will reap in your old age.

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The woman is the most powerful being in the world, and it is up to her to lead the man where God wants him to lead.

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If a blind man, tripping over a stone, falls, people will always blame the stone, although the fault belongs only to his blindness.

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If love cannot protect you from death, then at least it reconciles you to life.

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Friendship is like an immortal, although it is a white flower: it never withers.

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You can never do too much for a devoted friend.

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In the world of evil, foolishness, trust, and doubt, which is called existence, there is one thing worth living for, and which is undoubtedly stronger than death; this is love.

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In a mistress look for everything you want: mind, temperament, poetic mood, sensitivity, but with your wife you live a whole life, so look for something in you that you can rely on, look for the foundation.

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In each of us live two people, one of them scolding the other for what they have done.

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The greatness of a calamity is measured not by its essence, but by the manner in which it falls upon man.

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Whoever wants not to be swallowed by the whirlpool, must be able to swim.

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Only cowards lie.

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A so-called ideological discussion consists, as is well known, to a great extent of quoting the titles of various books.

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Tar doesn't stain your coat like a bad reputation does.

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The most outrageous crime is the abuse of trust.

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Small states thrive due to harmony, large states perish due to discord.

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Nothing softens and conquers a man's heart like being loved.

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Morals transform honor.

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Love cannot be only spiritual, because it becomes a shadow; but without a spiritual beginning it is wickedness.

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Better an honest enemy than a cunning friend.

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A lie is like oil - it slides over the surface of the truth.

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A beautiful woman is always worth her weight in gold, but a beautiful woman who even loves you is simply priceless.

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In every victory, the future defeat was hidden, at the bottom of every euphoria - bitterness.

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The world rests on deception and life is disappointment.

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Only in the good times do people forget about their loved ones, in times of trouble and misfortune, our thoughts swarm around them like a bee around a beehive.

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Apart from the truths of the natural sciences, everything in this world is empty chatter.

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The downside of love is that you can't think of anything else besides it.

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That's how it is in this life. Who is your friend today will be your friend tomorrow. One cannot trust anyone in this world.

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Cunning is worth as much as courage.

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There is nothing more repulsive than telling a woman you love someone you really don't love.

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Let's enjoy life while we can, because sooner or later, the devil will take us anyway.

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The rich can acquire means, but the poor must.

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A person lives when he cries, laughs, thinks and loves.

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Moralists can easily say that an honest man should not hesitate; however, it is always a question of what even the most honest person would do if passion, on the other hand, had to be thrown into the pan of the scales.

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Life is like the sea, (...) which is tossed along by various winds and storms, and the wise man is the one who can surely guide the little ship of his life on the storm-tossed foam.

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There is a right greater and more ancient than all human rights, by virtue of which the heart can and does only go after love, and if it ceases to love, it commits the most hideous breach of faith, although often as innocently as the lamp goes out when the fire burns out of it.

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Love is a heavy blow, because a free man becomes a slave because of it. Just as a bird hit by an arrow falls at the hunter's feet, so a person hit by the arrow of love no longer has the strength to run away from the beloved legs... Love cripples you, because whoever has fallen into it sees nothing in the world except his lover... The love is sadness, because when do more tears fall, when do human bosoms sigh more? Those who love me no longer think about beautiful clothes, dancing, hunting, or gambling, I would only embrace his knees with my own two hands and cry with great longing, like someone who has lost a loved one very close to his heart... Love is a disease, because who relaxes in it, as if falling into a malaise, his face pales, his eyes droop, his hands tremble, his fingers become emaciated, and he thinks of death, or walks madly, with disheveled hair, talks to the moon, likes to write his beloved's name in the sand, and if the wind blows him away, he says: "Bad luck"... and he's ready to cry...

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If it is difficult to love, it is even more difficult not to love, because who is satisfied without love by beauty, fame, wealth, good fragrances or expensive jewelry? Who would not say to his lover: "You are dearer to me than a whole kingdom, than a scepter, than my health, than a long life!" After all, everyone would gladly give their life for love, therefore love is worth more than life...

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It is not enough to love, you must know how to love, and you must also be able to teach others to love. After all, lust is felt by the plebs and even by animals, but the real man differs from them precisely in that he transforms lust into a kind of noble art and enjoys it while being aware of it, makes himself aware of his full divine value, and thereby not only his body, but also his soul filled with it.

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The goodness of the heart is like the warmth of the sun: it gives life. Only goodness and love are permanent. It's like the source. The more you draw from it, the more it craves. Be good!

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Music is like the sea. We are standing on one of its banks, we can see the distance, but it is impossible to see the other bank.

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I want these two arms of mine, which now embrace the bare air, to embrace him and hold him to my chest... I want to absorb his breath. (...) I want him in my house as long as my head is white.

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A fool who feeds on grief instead of starving it to death.

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I know from my own experience that excessive constancy in love only increases suffering.

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There is such a thing in the midst of human emotions that something, like a vile thorn, begins to prick and torment the heart, and this pain either goes away with time, or it hurts more and more, so much so that eventually it poisons even the most passionate love with pain and bitterness.

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What good would it do me if I wished for one of those stars? Neither I can fly up to him, nor he can come down to me! Woe to those who yearn for the silver moon!

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Life is awkward, difficult and often creates such Gordian knots that human strength cannot untie them.