Now the pessimist proper is the most modest of men. ... under no circumstances does he presume to imagine that he, a mere unit of pain, can in any degree change or soften the remorseless words of fate.

The choice of a topic which will bear analysis and support enthusiasm, is essential to the enjoyment of conversation.

the most charming thing about youth is the tenacity of its impressions.

It is difficult to admonish Frenchmen. Their habit of mind is unfavorable to preachment.

We know when we have had enough of a friend, and we know when a friend has had enough of us. The first truth is no more palatable than the second.

whereas the dog strives to lessen the distance between himself and man, seeks ever to be intelligent and intelligible, and translates into looks and actions the words he cannot speak, the cat dwells within the circle of her own secret thoughts.

It was hard to speed the male child up the stony heights of erudition, but it was harder still to check the female child at the crucial point, and keep her tottering decorously behind her brother.