Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, "Lighthouses" as the poet said "erected in the sea of time." They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind, Books are humanity in print.

I have described religion as the metaphysics of the people.

It is with trifles, and when he is off guard, that a man best reveals his character.

Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.

...this our world, which is so real, with all its suns and milky ways is-nothing.

Pleasure is never as pleasant as we expected it to be and pain is always more painful. The pain in the world always outweighs the pleasure. If you don't believe it, compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is eating the other.

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