That the outer man is a picture of the inner, and the face an expression and revelation of the whole character, is a presumption likely enough in itself, and therefore a safe one to go on; borne out as it is by the fact that people are always anxious to see anyone who has made himself famous. Photography offers the most complete satisfaction of our curiosity.

The mother of useful arts is necessity; that of the fine arts is luxury. For father the former has intellect; the latter genius, which itself is a kind of luxury.

Every generation, no matter how paltry its character, thinks itself much wiser than the one immediately preceding it, let alone those that are more remote.

There is not a grain of dust, not an atom that can become nothing, yet man believes that death is the annhilation of his being.

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

universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.

For the world is Hell, and men are on the one hand the tormented souls and on the other the devils in it.