{"author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz","total_quotes":23,"quotes":[{"text":"Nevertheless, in this sea of human wretchedness and malice there bloomed at times compassion, as a pale flower blooms in a putrid marsh.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["cruelty","hope","hope-and-despair","humanity"],"id":28453,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"It is not Atlas who carries the world on his shoulders, but woman; and sometimes she plays with it as with a ball.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["atlas","ball","play","quo-vadis","shoulders","woman","women"],"id":32011,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"The shots had dispersed the birds; there remained only two marabous, standing between ten and twenty paces away and plunged in reverie. They were like two old men with bald heads pressed between the shoulders.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["africa","wilderness"],"id":47593,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"They did not, however, infect the air as the Sudanese sun dried them up like mummies; all had the hue of gray parchment, and were so much alike that the bodies of the Europeans, Egyptians, and negroes could not be distinguished from each other.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["death","humanity","war"],"id":134933,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"More than once have I thought, Why does crime, even when as powerful as Cæsar, and assured of being beyond punishment, strive always for the appearances of truth, justice, and virtue? Why does it take the trouble? I consider that to murder a brother, a mother, a wife, is a thing worthy of some petty Asiatic king, not a Roman Cæsar; but if that position were mine, I should not write justifying letters to the Senate. But Nero writes. Nero is looking for appearances, for Nero is a coward. But Tiberius was not a coward; still he justified every step he took. Why is this? What a marvellous, involuntary homage paid to virtue by evil! And knowest thou what strikes me? This, that it is done because transgression is ugly and virtue is beautiful. Therefore a man of genuine æsthetic feeling is also a virtuous man. Hence I am virtuous.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["aesthetics","evil","insightful","rome"],"id":183682,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"As to women, I agree that each has three or four souls, but none of them a reasoning one.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["quo-vadis","reason","soul","woman","women"],"id":193710,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"Tell me,' asked Stas, 'what is a wicked deed?' 'If anyone takes away Kali's cow,' he answered after a brief reflection, 'that then is a wicked deed.' 'Excellent!' exclaimed Stas, 'and what is a good one?' This time the answer came without any reflection: 'If Kali takes away the cow of somebody else, that is a good deed.' Stas was too young to perceive that similar views of evil and good deeds were enunciated in Europe not only by politicians but by whole nations.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["faith","good-and-evil","morality","political-philosophy","political-science","religion"],"id":200012,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"There, about a dozen times during the day, the wind drives over the sky the swollen clouds, which water the earth copiously, after which the sun shines brightly, as if freshly bathed, and floods with a golden luster the rocks, the river, the trees, and the entire jungle.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["after-the-rain","hope","jungle","wilderness"],"id":200352,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"But the French writers always had more originality and independence than others, and that regulator, which elsewhere was religion, long since ceased to exist for them.","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["religion","long","originality "],"id":209476,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"},{"text":"Prophet,' he said, 'Your doctrines I do not know; therefore if I accepted them, I would do it out of fear like a coward and a base man. Are you anxious that your faith be professed by cowards and base people?","author":"Henryk Sienkiewicz","tags":["bravery","courage","faith","strength","strength-and-courage","strength-through-adversity"],"id":212479,"author_id":"Henryk+Sienkiewicz"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":23,"pages":3,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}