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Pity is not natural to man. Children and savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; but we have not pity unless we wish to relieve him.


Samuel Johnson

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To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.
HORACE MANN To pity, distress it but human; to relieve it is Godlike.
HORACE MANN To pity distress it but human; to relieve it is Godlike.
HORACE MANN Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.
GRAHAM GREENE What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!'
Pity? It was Pit...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’ ‘Pity? It was Pit...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN Nobody is going to have pity on you, ... If our guys are looking for pity, they're not going to get ...
KANSAS I don't pity any man who does hard work worth doing. I admire him. I pity the creature who does not ...
THEODORE ROOSEVELT Nobody is going to give us any pity and we're not going to pity ourselves. We just need to play bett...
BUDDY BELL Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother...
ORIANA FALLACI A man may acquire a taste for wine or brandy, and so lose his love for water, but should we not pity...
HENRY DAVID THOREAU Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.
J.K. ROWLING The concern is that the images to be devised won't be sufficiently upsetting: not concrete, not deta...
SUSAN SONTAG His pity for them had been overwhelming; but pity was not action.
SHūSAKU ENDō To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love / All pray in their distress.
WILLIAM BLAKE My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.
WILFRED OWEN Given a choice, it seems like pity would be easier to bear than mockery, but that's not true. Mocker...
ERICA O'ROURKE It is a pity that we cannot escape from life when we are young.
MARK TWAIN Honesty is as rare as a man without self-pity.
STEPHEN VINCENT BENET Honesty is as rare as a man without self-pity
STEPHEN VINCENT BENET Here we go mother on the shipless ocean.
Pity us, pity the ocean, here we go.
ANNE CARSON However we may pity the mother whose health and even life is imperiled by the performance of her nat...
POPE PIUS XI All who call the Holy Ghost a creature we pity, on the ground that, by this utterance, they are fall...
SAINT BASIL We pity in others only those evils which we have ourselves experienced.
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU We pity in others only those evils which we have ourselves experienced
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU Beauty plus pity-that is the closest we can get to a definition of art. Where there is beauty there ...
VLADIMIR NABOKOV We pity in others only the those evils which we ourselves have experienced.
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU We pity in others only the those evils which we ourselves have experienced.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the state ...
SAMUEL JOHNSON Pity the sorrow of a poor old man, Whose trembling limbs have brought him to your door.
THOMAS MOSS Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation ...
LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI I tell people to monitor their self-pity. Self-pity is very unattractive.
PATTY DUKE To a sensitive being, pity is not seldom pain.
HERMAN MELVILLE We are all born sexual creatures,thank God, but it's a pity so many people despise and crush this na...
MARILYN MONROE It is a pity that doing one's best does not always answer.
CHARLOTTE BRONTë Of course you feel extra pity for Tommy ending with losing on penalties. In a way it's always easier...
LARS LAGERBACK We are a society that treats people with disabilities with condescension and pity, not dignity and r...
STELLA YOUNG It is not love that transforms the world, but pity.
CLARA WINTER Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cl...
KAHLIL GIBRAN It is a pity that we will not see him facing justice, that we will not hear the verdict. However, it...
HAJRA CATIC Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
BIBLE Then every man of every clime,That prays in his distress,Prays to the human form divine,Love, Mercy,...
WILLIAM BLAKE Every vice leads to cruelty. Even a good emotion, pity, if not controlled by charity and justice, le...
C.S. LEWIS Pity is not forgiveness, nor is gratitude absolution.
PIERCE BROWN Self-pity is an emotion that is reserved for quitters.
RANDY PROFETA Self-pity, a dominant characteristic of sociopaths, is also the characteristic that differentiates h...
MARTHA BECK Holidays - Have no pity
EUGENIO MONTALE What pity is it That we can die, but once to serve our country.
JOSEPH ADDISON I used to have a real problem with self-pity. Every time the devil would throw a pity party, I would...
JOYCE MEYER There is no pity for a man who moans about living in one town and does not move to another.
THE TALMUD Pity is best taught by fellowship in woe
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Pity is best taught by fellowship in woe.
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE That he is mad, 't is true: 't is true 't is pity;And pity 't is 't is true.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE I've never understood pity and self-pity as an emotion.
RANDY PAUSCH Sacrifices by believers should not be done out of pity
SUNDAY ADELAJA Avoid self-pity, or the pity and sympathy of others. Never allow others to make you feel inferior.
DR ANIL KUMAR SINHA Who would not be that youth? What pity is it That we can die but once to save our country!
JOSEPH ADDISON Pity does not validate cowardice
ANTHONY LO Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed ...
PAULO COELHO Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.
HELEN KELLER More helpful than all wisdom is one draught of simple pity that will not forsake us
GEORGE ELIOT And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Pity costs nothing, and it ain't worth nothing.
JOSH BILLINGS She knows as well as anyone that pity, having played, soon tires.
EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON To love with the spirit is to pity, and he who pities most loves most.
MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO Pity the man who has a character to support -- it is worse than a large family -- he is silent poo...
HENRY DAVID THOREAU If the secret sorrows of everyone could be read on their forehead, how many who now cause envy woul...
ITALIAN PROVERB Being Lutheran, Mother believed that self-pity is a deadly sin and so is nostalgia, and she had no t...
GARRISON KEILLOR None pities him that is in the snare, who warned before, would not beware
ROBERT HERRICK Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead
MARK TWAIN Pity me that the heart is slow to learn What the swift mind beholds at every turn.
EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY Compassion is the only one of the human emotions the Lord permitted Himself and it has carried the d...
DAGOBERT D. RUNES Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the nonpharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives ...
JOHN W. GARDNER We had them on the run for long periods but it was such a pity that we could not hold on. However, w...
AARON LAWRENCE It is a pity that my collection of trophies contains not a single Russian.
MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN Pity? You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!
JERRY LEWIS Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart, Éowyn!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN Not once, during this whole thing, did he ever seek pity. That just isn't who Bailey is.
SHANNON BAILEY When I go out there, I have no pity on my brother. I'm out there to win.
JOE FRAZIER Those who go forth to the battle never return without holes in their ranks, like gaping wounds. Pity...
ELLIS PETERS It's a pity because it really looked like he was going to deliver.
HISHAM KASSEM I have no pity! I have no pity! The more worms writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails!...
EMILY BRONTë I must say it really was a pity. When I spun I was very close to Alonso. During the pit spot I lost ...
FELIPE MASSA It's a pity but I'm not going to give up. I'm either going to win the Giro or I'm going to blow the ...
GILBERTO SIMONI This should be a great game. Two great teams, two great sets of supporters ... it's a pity we're pla...
FERNANDO COUTO There were very few restrictions on who could come here. For the most part, we just took pity on the...
LORETTA NEIGEBORN A man without force, is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted, ...
FREDERICK DOUGLASS Pity is treason.
MAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become ...
MAYA ANGELOU I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?
WILLIAM COWPER You are a sad, sad little man and you have my pity.
— Buzz Lightyear
CATHY EAST DUBOWSKI Don't pity me now, don't pity me never; I'm going to do nothing for ever and ever.
JAMES AGATE Let’s always feel love for those who may seem in need… never pity!
ROXANA JONES Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622 A really patient man neither ...
FRANÇOIS DE SALES The scavenger of misery is pity.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW I loved her tremendously. It didn't seem fair, ... Instead of wallowing in self-pity, I decided to r...
ANN DAVIS Ah, sweet pity. Where would my love life have been without it?
DAN CASTELLANETA Tragedy is an imitation not just of a complete action, but of events that evoke pity and fear.
ARISTOTLE Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.
HELEN KELLER But remember please, the Law by which we live, we are not built to comprehend a lie, we can neither ...
RUDYARD KIPLING

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SAMUEL JOHNSON My congratulations to you, sir. Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good...
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SAMUEL JOHNSON The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON It is the only sensual pleasure without vice.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Many things difficult in design prove easy in performance.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON I found you essay to be good and original. However, the part that was original was not good and the ...
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Knowledge is more than equivalent to force.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, I have found you an argument. I am not obliged to find you an understanding.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Censure is willingly indulged, because it always implies some superiority: men please themselves wit...
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SAMUEL JOHNSON He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Sir, you have but two topics, yourself and me. I am sick of both.
SAMUEL JOHNSON Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things ...
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SAMUEL JOHNSON It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability.
SAMUEL JOHNSON When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Prepare for death, if here at night you roam, and sign your will before you sup from home.
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SAMUEL JOHNSON Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well.
SAMUEL JOHNSON I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be sile...
SAMUEL JOHNSON He that pursues fame with just claims, trusts his happiness to the winds; but he that endeavors afte...
SAMUEL JOHNSON To get a name can happen but to few; it is one of the few things that cannot be brought. It is the f...
SAMUEL JOHNSON We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointed or gratified, we want to be again exp...
SAMUEL JOHNSON Few enterprises of great labor or hazard would be undertaken if we had not the power of magnifying t...
SAMUEL JOHNSON I know not any thing more pleasant, or more instructive, than to compare experience with expectation...
SAMUEL JOHNSON It is generally known, that he who expects much will be often disappointed; yet disappointment seldo...
SAMUEL JOHNSON Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: b...
SAMUEL JOHNSON Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.
SAMUEL JOHNSON No two men can be half an hour together but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other.
SAMUEL JOHNSON Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual approbation is particularly expected.
SAMUEL JOHNSON The chains of habit are generally too week to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken.
SAMUEL JOHNSON The habit of looking on the best side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a years.
SAMUEL JOHNSON While grief is fresh, every attempt to divert only irritates. You must wait till grief be digested, ...
SAMUEL JOHNSON Where grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates.
SAMUEL JOHNSON The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little.
SAMUEL JOHNSON He was dull in a new way, and that made many think him great.
SAMUEL JOHNSON