It is only the hope of what is claimed that begets and nurishes the wish.

Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination.

If a man wants to read good books, he must make a point of avoiding bad ones; for life is short, and time and energy limited.

The first forty years of our life give the text, the next thirty furnish the commentary upon it, which enables us rightly to understand the true meaning and connection of the text with its moral and its beauties.

To be alone is the fate of all great minds—a fate deplored at times, but still always chosen as the less grievous of two evils.

We seldom speak of what we have but often of what we lack.

The cause of laughter is simply the sudden perception of the incongruity between a concept and the real project.