---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: True delicacy, as true generosity, is…"
description: "\"True delicacy, as true generosity, is more wounded by an offence from itself--if I may be allowed the expression--than to itself.\" — Sir Fulke Greville"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/sir-fulke-greville-15667_delicacy_true-delicacy-as-true-generosity-is-more_2121451.png"
---

#  True delicacy, as true generosity, is more wounded by an…

![“True delicacy, as true generosity, is more wounded by an offence from itself--if I may be allowed the expression--than to itself.” quote by Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/sir-fulke-greville-15667_delicacy_true-delicacy-as-true-generosity-is-more_2121451.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/sir-fulke-greville-15667_delicacy_true-delicacy-as-true-generosity-is-more_2121451.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af4/sir-fulke-greville-15667_delicacy_true-delicacy-as-true-generosity-is-more_2121451.png)

> “True delicacy, as true generosity, is more wounded by an offence from itself--if I may be allowed the expression--than to itself.”

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Self‑inflicted emotional wounds are deeper than external offenses, as inner criticism harms more than others' actions.

**In simple terms:** Self‑criticism hurts more than outside insults.

Key Takeaway

Practice self‑compassion and limit harsh self‑judgment.

Themes

self‑criticism vulnerability emotional pain humility

Mood

thoughtful introspective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- personal reflection
- conflict resolution
- mental health counseling

Key Concepts

psychology philosophy self‑esteem inner dialogue

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you respond to your own mistakes?
- What practices can soften inner harshness?

A Different Perspective

Self‑criticism can become a destructive habit if unchecked.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generosity/) [Kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindness/) [Offence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offence/) [Refinement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refinement/) [True generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-generosity/) [Wounded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounded/)

## Related quotes

> [Too great cleverness is but deceptive delicacy, true delicacy is the most substantial cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/too-great-cleverness-is-but-deceptive-delicacy-true-delicacy-is-the/)

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> [Too great refinement is false delicacy, and true delicacy is solid refinement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/too-great-refinement-is-false-delicacy-and-true-delicacy-is-solid/)

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [Weak men often from the very principle of their weakness derive a certain susceptibility; delicacy and taste which render them, in those particulars, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/weak-men-often-from-the-very-principle-of-their-weakness-derive-a/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [A very small offence may be a just cause for great resentment: it is often much less the particular instance which is obnoxious to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/a-very-small-offence-may-be-a-just-cause-for-great-resentment-it-is/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [A wise woman recognizes when her life is out of balance and summons the courage to act to correct it, she knows the meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/a-wise-woman-recognizes-when-her-life-is-out-of-balance-and-summons/)

[Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/)

> [True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/true-generosity-consists-precisely-in-fighting-to-destroy-the-causes-2/)

[Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/)

> [True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the "rejects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/true-generosity-consists-precisely-in-fighting-to-destroy-the-causes/)

[Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/)

> [True generosity means accepting ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-chanel/true-generosity-means-accepting-ingratitude/)

[Coco Chanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-chanel/)

> [True generosity is a duty as indispensably necessary as those imposed upon us by the law. It is a rule imposed upon us by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/true-generosity-is-a-duty-as-indispensably-necessary-as-those-imposed/)

[Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/)

> [“Random acts of kindness are essential to our wellbeing, as they liberate us from self-obsession, selfishness, and isolation; they are the result of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-deb-shapiro/random-acts-of-kindness-are-essential-to-our-wellbeing-as-they/)

Ed &amp; Deb Shapiro

> [Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/rings-and-other-jewels-are-not-gifts-but-apologies-for-gifts-the-only/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [True generosity is too frequently eaten up by prosperity and riches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/true-generosity-is-too-frequently-eaten-up-by-prosperity-and-riches/)

[Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/)

> [“True generosity toward the future consists in giving everything to the present.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/true-generosity-toward-the-future-consists-in-giving-everything-to/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [True generosity is an offering; given freely and out of pure love. No strings attached. No expectations. Time and love are the most valuable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/true-generosity-is-an-offering-given-freely-and-out-of-pure-love-no/)

[Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/)

> [Love and nonattachment are the basis of true generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/love-and-nonattachment-are-the-basis-of-true-generosity/)

[Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/)

## More by Sir Fulke Greville

> [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [The mind of man is this world's true dimension; and knowledge is the measure of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/the-mind-of-man-is-this-world-s-true-dimension-and-knowledge-is-the/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [We should do by our cunning as we do by our courage--always have it ready to defend ourselves, never to offend others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/we-should-do-by-our-cunning-as-we-do-by-our-courage-always-have-it/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [A lively and agreeable man has not only the merit of liveliness and agreeableness himself, but that also of awakening them in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/a-lively-and-agreeable-man-has-not-only-the-merit-of-liveliness-and/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [I have often thought that the nature of women was interior to that of men in general, but superior in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/i-have-often-thought-that-the-nature-of-women-was-interior-to-that-of/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [Good-humor will sometimes conquer ill-humor, but ill-humor will conquer it oftener; and for this plain reason, good-humor must operate on generosity, ill-humor on meanness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/good-humor-will-sometimes-conquer-ill-humor-but-ill-humor-will/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [I hardly know so melancholy a reflection as that parents are necessarily the sole directors of the management of children, whether they have or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/i-hardly-know-so-melancholy-a-reflection-as-that-parents-are/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [Respect is better procured by exacting than soliciting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/respect-is-better-procured-by-exacting-than-soliciting-it/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [We laugh heartily to see a whole flock of sheep jump because one did so. Might not one imagine that superior beings do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/we-laugh-heartily-to-see-a-whole-flock-of-sheep-jump-because-one-did/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [The brains of a pedant however full, are vacant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/the-brains-of-a-pedant-however-full-are-vacant/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [I hardly know a sight that raises one's indignation more than that of an enlarged soul joined to a contracted fortune; unless it be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/i-hardly-know-a-sight-that-raises-one-s-indignation-more-than-that-of/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [I hardly know so true a mark of a little mind as the servile imitation of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/i-hardly-know-so-true-a-mark-of-a-little-mind-as-the-servile/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [Unbecoming forwardness oftener proceeds from ignorance than impudence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/unbecoming-forwardness-oftener-proceeds-from-ignorance-than-impudence/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [A proud man never shows his pride so much as when he is civil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/a-proud-man-never-shows-his-pride-so-much-as-when-he-is-civil/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

> [Despair gives the shocking ease to the mind that a mortification gives to the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/despair-gives-the-shocking-ease-to-the-mind-that-a-mortification/)

[Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

[Explore all 42 Sir Fulke Greville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/)

## More Delicacy quotes

> [I decided to lock myself in. A forced segregation. Sabbatical. A retreat into myself. My selves. Play hide and go seek in the looking-glass.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/i-decided-to-lock-myself-in-a-forced-segregation-sabbatical-a-retreat/)

[Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/)

> [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/)

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> [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [If my opinion is of any worth, the fieldfare is the greatest delicacy among birds, the hare among quadrupeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martial/if-my-opinion-is-of-any-worth-the-fieldfare-is-the-greatest-delicacy/)

[Martial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martial/)

> [“...there is a delicacy in it equalled only by the daintiness of the elephant's trunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-is-a-delicacy-in-it-equalled-only-by-the-daintiness-of-the/)

[Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/)

> [Delicacy of taste has the same effect as delicacy of passion; it enlarges the sphere both of our happiness and our misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/delicacy-of-taste-has-the-same-effect-as-delicacy-of-passion-it/)

[David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/)

> [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [An oyster, that marvel of delicacy, that concentration of sapid excellence, that mouthful bwefore all other mouthfuls, who first had faith to believe it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/an-oyster-that-marvel-of-delicacy-that-concentration-of-sapid/)

[Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/)

> [Too great cleverness is but deceptive delicacy, true delicacy is the most substantial cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/too-great-cleverness-is-but-deceptive-delicacy-true-delicacy-is-the/)

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/)

> [A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-sandwich-and-a-cup-of-coffee-and-then-off-to-violin-land-where-all/)

[Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/)

> [If you could choose to master a single ingredient, no choice would teach you more about cooking than the egg. It is an end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ruhlman/if-you-could-choose-to-master-a-single-ingredient-no-choice-would/)

[Michael Ruhlman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ruhlman/)

> [My love affair with nature is so deep that I am not satisfied with being a mere onlooker, or nature tourist. I crave a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euell-gibbons/my-love-affair-with-nature-is-so-deep-that-i-am-not-satisfied-with/)

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> [HOG, n. A bird remarkable for the catholicity of its appetite and serving to illustrate that of ours. Among the Mahometans and Jews, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/hog-n-a-bird-remarkable-for-the-catholicity-of-its-appetite-and/)

[Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/)

> [There is a certain delicacy which in yielding conquers; and with a pitiful look makes one find cause to crave help one's self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/there-is-a-certain-delicacy-which-in-yielding-conquers-and-with-a/)

[Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/)

> [The man is a humbug — a vulgar, shallow, self-satisfied mind, absolutely inaccessible to the complexities and delicacies of the real world. He has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-man-is-a-humbug-a-vulgar-shallow-self-satisfied-mind-absolutely/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

Browse all 224 Delicacy quotes

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