In the little affairs of human life, whether social or national, I have found that courtesies, kindness, and small attentions are often received with more grateful feelings than those of a more substantial character. We often appreciate more the picayunes than the double eagles, in the currency of social and human life.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In the little affairs of human life, whether social or national, I have found that courtesies, kindness, and small attentions are often received with more grateful feelings than those of a more substantial character. We often appreciate more the picayunes than the double eagles, in the currency of social and human life." in the context of "Speech in Support of Receiving Father Theobald Mathew, Irish Patriot, in the Senate Chambers (December 20, 1849), as printed in The Congressional Globe, December 1849, p. 51.
 • [later reported as] The courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to the grateful and appreciating heart . It is the picayune compliments which are the most appreciating ; far more than the double ones which we sometimes pay.
  • Quoted in William Mathews,Getting on in the World; or Hints on Success in Life(1872)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.