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

The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.

The first rule for a good style is to have something to say; in fact, this in itself is almost enough.

The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.

Reason deserves to be called a prophet; for in showing us the consequence and effect of our actions in the present, does it not tell us what the future will be?

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.

That a god like Jehovah should have created this world of misery and woe, out of pure caprice, and because he enjoyed doing it, and should then have clapped his hands in praise of his own work, and declared everything to be very good-that will not do at all!