Try an author, a thought, or a phrase in “quotes”.↑ ↓ Navigate · Esc Close

Type a word, saying or author to search.

Browse the library ↗

When Goethe says that in every human condition foes lie in wait for us, "invincible save by cheerfulness and equanimity," he does not mean that we can at all times be really cheerful, or at a moment's notice; but that the endeavour to look at the better side of things will produce the habit, and that this habit is the surest safeguard against the danger of sudden evils.

When Goethe says that in every human condition foes lie in wait for us, "invincible save by cheerfulness and equanimity," he does not mean that we can at all times be really cheerful, or at a moment's notice; but that the endeavour to look at the better side of things will produce the habit, and that this habit is the surest safeguard against the danger of sudden evils.

Approximate author period: c. 1821 AD · industrial

Meaning not yet available

An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.

Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗
Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Leigh Hunt
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1821 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1784–1859)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)

Printed citation: Leigh Hunt. · page_543

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.