Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.
Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and charm and gaiety to life.
Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another.
Necessity, who is the mother of invention.
Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.
Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.
What a poor appearance the tales of poets make when stripped of the colours which music puts upon them, and recited in simple prose.
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
