Truth is no harlot who throws her arms round the neck of him who does not desire her; on the contrary, she is so coy a beauty that even the man who sacrifices everything to her can still not be certain of her favors.

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

A man shows his character just in the way in which he deals with trifles, for then he is off his guard.

To truth only a brief celebration of victory is allowed between the two long periods during which it is condemned as paradoxical, or disparaged as trivial.

Men are a thousand times more intent on becoming rich than on acquiring culture, though it is quite certain that what a man IS contributes more to his happiness than what he HAS.

In reading, the mind is, in fact, only the playground of another's thoughts.

It is only a man's own fundamental thoughts that have truth and life in them.