The surest poison is time.
Not gold but only men can makeA people great and strong;Men who for truth and honors sakeStand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep,Who dare while others flyThey build a nations pillars deepAnd lift them to the sky.
Today is a king in disguise.
We lie in the lap of immense intelligence.
The basis of good manners is self-reliance.
Genial manners are good, and power of accommodation to any circumstance, but the high prize of life, the crowning fortune of a man is to be born with a bias to some pursuit, which finds him in employment and happiness, — whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statutes, or songs. I doubt not this was the meaning of Socrates, when he pronounced artists the only truly wise, as being actually, not apparently so.
In nature nothing can be given. All things are sold.
There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little, and therefore men should remedy suspicion by procuring to know more, and not keep their suspicions in smother.
Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations.
I could never be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
Don’t order any black things. Rejoice in his memory; and be radiant: leave grief to the children. Wear violet and purple. Be patient with the poor people who will snivel: they don’t know; and they think they will live for ever, which makes death a division instead of a bond.
Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life.
The aim of spiritual life is to awaken a joyful freedom, a benevolent and compassionate heart in spite of everything.
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
There are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful.
I believe that he was really sorry that people would not believe he was sorry that he was not more sorry.
Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior.
The German intellect wants the French sprightliness, the fine practical understanding of the English, and the American adventure; but it has a certain probity, which never rests in a superficial performance, but asks steadily, To what end? A German public asks for a controlling sincerity.
I had rather believe all the Fables in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a Mind.
Be present in all things and thankful for all things.
