Alexander Smith Quotes

It is pleasant, when the sea runs high, to view from land the great distress of another.

I don't think we can be entirely happy seeing such misery around us.

If happy I and wretched he, Perhaps the king would change with me.

Pleasant it is, when over a great sea the winds trouble the waters, to gaze from shore upon another's great tribulation; not because any man's troubles are a delectable joy, but because to perceive you are free of them yourself is pleasant.

Pity addresses the perceived suffering, not the whole individual.

The unhappy derive comfort from the misfortunes of others.

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.

Everything is funny, as long as it's happening to somebody else.

Man loves malice, but not against one-eyed men nor the unfortunate, but against the fortunate and proud.

If you're down, it's curse; if you're up, it's a blessing.

I feel like if you're in a bad situation, and then you see somebody that's even in a worse situation, you feel for that person.

I think people just like seeing failure.

the very fact of the death of someone close to them aroused in all who heard about it, as always, a feeling of delight that he had died and they hadn't.

I am convinced that we have a degree of delight, and that no small one, in the real misfortunes and pain of others

It's nice when people are happy to hear that you're still alive, rather than feeling like "Oh, finally he's dead?"

I fear that we read of war, like women gossip, to enjoy the bitter misery of others.

Good luck in most cases comes through the misfortune of others.

Those whom fortune has never favored are more joyful than those whom she has deserted.

Those who wander in the world avowedly and purposely in pursuit of happiness, who view every scene of present joy with an eye to what may succeed, certainly are more liable to disappointment, misfortune and unhappiness, than those who give up their fate to chance and take the goods and evils of fortune as they come, without making happiness their study, or misery their foresight.

We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of continued happiness?

It's hard to tell our bad luck from our good luck sometimes. And most of us have wept copious tears over someone or something when if we'd understood the situation better we might have celebrated our good fortune instead.

Lord, heap miseries upon us yet entwine our arts with laughters low.

There are two types of compassion. One - is faint-hearted and sentimental. Actually, it is nothing more than impatience of the heart, that is hurrying to get rid of that hard feeling when you see other peoples' sufferings; this is not a compassion, but just an instinct will to defence yourself from misfortunes of others. But there is another compassion - real one, that demands for actions, not sentiments, it knows what it wants, and it is full of determination to do everything, what is in human power and even beyond it.