No one knows what capacities for doing and suffering he has in himself, until something comes to rouse them to activity: just as in a pond of still water, lying there like a mirror, there is no sign of the roar and thunder with which it can leap from the precipice, and yet remain what it is; or again, rise high in the air as a fountain. When water is as cold as ice, you can have no idea of the latent warmth contained in it.

If the lives of men were relieved of all need, hardship and adversity; if everything they took in hand were successful, they would be so swollen with arrogance that, though they might not burst, they would present the spectacle of unbridled folly-nay, they would go mad. And I may say, further, that a certain amount of care or pain or trouble is necessary for every man at all times. A ship without ballast is unstable and will not go straight.

Motives are causes experienced from within.

The reason domestic pets are so lovable and so helpful to us is because they enjoy, quietly and placidly, the present moment.

Life is a language in which certain truths are conveyed to us; if we could learn them in some other way, we should not live.

The heavy armor becomes the light dress of childhood; the pain is brief, the joy unending.

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.