The truthful man is usually a liar.

A recluse without books and ink is already in life a dead man.

For me writing biographies is impossible, unless they are brief and concise, and these are, I feel, the most eloquent.

My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.

One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge.

I have not the slightest pretension to call my verses poetry; I write now and then for no other purpose than to relieve depression or to improve my English.

A heart can no more be forced to love than a stomach can be forced to digest food by persuasion.