Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others and denies nothing to itself.

We should be surprised that a matter that generally plays such an important part in the life of man has hitherto been almost entirely disregarded by philosophers, and lies before us as raw and untreated material.

Great minds are related to the brief span of time during which they live as great buildings are to a little square in which they stand: you cannot see them in all their magnitude because you are standing too close to them.

The shortness of life, so often lamented, may be the best thing about it.

The old woman dies, the burden is lifted.

This actual world of what is knowable, in which we are and which is in us, remains both the material and the limit of our consideration.

That I could clamber to the frozen moon. And draw the ladder after me.