A thing may be morally neutral and yet the desire for that thing may be dangerous.

Men propound mathematical theorems in besieged cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, make jokes on the scaffold, discuss a new poem while advancing to the walls of Quebec, and comb their hair at Thermopylae. This is not panache; it is our nature.

Perfect goodness can never debate about the end to be attained, and perfect wisdom cannot debate about the means most suited to achieve it.

Knock and it shall be opened.' But does knocking mean hammering and kicking the door like a maniac?

And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to and end; but that was not to be.

Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good.

All human beings pass away. Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose. If love is to be a blessing, not a misery, it must be for the only beloved who will never pass away.