To find out your real opinion of someone, judge the impression you have when you first see a letter from them.

The word of man is the most durable of all material.

Reason is feminine in nature; it can only give after it has received.

Our moral virtues benefit mainly other people; intellectual virtues, on the other hand, benefit primarily ourselves; therefore the former make us universally popular, the latter unpopular.

We should comfort ourselves with the masterpieces of art as with exalted personages-stand quietly before them and wait till they speak to us.

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.

Reading is merely a surrogate for thinking for yourself; it means letting someone else direct your thoughts.