Every child is in a way a genius; and every genius is in a way a child.

The young should early be trained to bear being left alone; for it is a source of happiness and peace of mind.

There is in the world only the choice between loneliness and vulgarity. All young people should be taught now to put up with loneliness ... because the less man is compelled to come into contact with others, the better off he is.

In the blessings as well as in the ills of life, less depends upon what befalls us than upon the way in which it is met.

Students and scholars of all kinds and of every age aim, as a rule, only at information, not insight. They make it a point of honour to have information about everything, every stone, plant, battle, or experiment and about all books, collectively and individually. It never occurs to them that information is merely a means to insight, but in itself is of little or no value.

To read a book is to hold an entire world in the palm of your hand. That world is unique to you; no two readers can ever inhabit the same world

Consciousness is the mere surface of our minds, of which, as of the earth, we do not know the inside, but only the crust.