Lavater told Goethe that on a certain occasion when he held the velvet bag in the church as collector of the offerings, he tried to observe only the hands; and he satisfied himself that in every individual the shape of the hand and of the fingers, the action and sentiment in dropping the gift into the bag, were distinctly different and individually characteristic.

When we talk of leaving our childhood behind us, we might as well say that the river flowing onward to the sea had left the fountain behind.

There are brains so large that they unconsciously swamp all individualities ties which come in contact or too near, and brains so small that they cannot take in the conception of any other individuality as a whole, only in part or parts.

As the rolling stone gathers no moss, so the roving heart gathers no affections.

What we truly and earnestly aspire to be, that in some sense we are.

Have the courage to appear poor and you disarm poverty of its sharpest sting.

He that seeks popularity in art closes the door on his own genius: as he must needs paint for other minds, and not for his own.