It is the courage to make a clean breast of it in the face of every question that makes the philosopher.

If a man sets out to hate all the miserable creatures he meets, he will not have much energy left for anything else; whereas he can despise them, one and all, with the greatest ease.

Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night.

He who lives to see two or three generations is like a man who sits some time in the conjurer's booth at a fair, and witnesses the performance twice or thrice in succession. The tricks were meant to be seen only once; and when they are no longer a novelty and cease to deceive, their effect is gone.

There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome; to be got over.

Many books serve merely to show how many ways there are of being wrong, and how far astray you yourself would go if you followed their guidance. You should read only when your own thoughts dry up.

As a general rule, the longer a man's fame is likely to last, the later it will be in coming; for all excellent products require time for their development.