earnestness

is having an honest distrust of oneself, to treat oneself as a suspicious character, as a financier treats an unreliable client.

Ah, my friend, it is far better that you never forget to remember promptly than that you promptly say: I will never forget it. Earnestness is precisely this kind of honest distrust of oneself, to treat oneself as a suspicious character, as a financier treats an unreliable client, saying, 'Well, these big promises are not much help... I would rather have a small part of the total right away.'. . .

is needed in this world as much as any virtue.

Earnestness is needed in this world as much as any virtue.

is good; it means business. But fanaticism overdoes, and is consequently reactionary.

Earnestness is good; it means business. But fanaticism overdoes, and is consequently reactionary.

is the best gift of mental power, and deficiency of heart is the cause of many men never becoming great.

Earnestness is the best gift of mental power, and deficiency of heart is the cause of many men never becoming great.

earnestness, n.Definitions

earnestness