To harbor hatred and animosity in the soul makes one irritable, gloomy, and prematurely old.

Why has no religion this command before all others: Thou shalt work?

Of all afflictions, the worst is self contempt.

All men are selfish, but the vain man is in love with himself. He admires, like the lover his adored one, everything which to others is indifferent.

The vain being is the really solitary being.

If you sound great in the practice room, you're practicing the wrong thing. Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

The silver-leaved birch retains in its old age a soft bark; there are some such men.