There is hardly any one so insignificant that he does not seem imposing to some one at some time.

The passion of self-aggrandizement is persistent but plastic; it will never disappear from a vigorous mind, but may become morally higher by attaching itself to a larger conception of what constitutes the self.

To persuade is more trouble than to dominate, and the powerful seldom take this trouble if they can avoid it.

As social beings we live with our eyes upon our reflection, but have no assurance of the tranquillity of the waters in which we see it.

Kindliness seems to exist primarily as an animal instinct, so deeply rooted that mental degeneracy, which works from the top down,does not destroy it until the mind sinks to the lower grades of idiocy.

One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide.

The mind is not a hermit's cell, but a place of hospitality and intercourse.