The greatest joy in nature is the absence of man.

Indifference may not wreck a man's life at any one turn, but it will destroy him with a kind of dry-rot in the long run.

A 'fact' merely marks the point where we have agreed to let investigation cease.

Set me a task in which I can put something of my very self, and it is a task no longer; it is joy; it is art.

Have little care that Life is brief, And less that Art is long. Success is in the silences Though Fame is in the song.

There is only one way in the world to be distinguished. Follow your instinct! Be yourself, and you'll be somebody. Be one more blind follower of the blind, and you will have the oblivion you desire.

There is a passion for perfection which you will rarely see fully developed; but you may note this fact, that in successful lives it is never wholly lacking.