Midway upon the journey of our life

Beauty awakens the soul to act.

There are souls beneath that water. Fixed in slimethey speak their piece, end it, and start again:'Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the Sun;in the glory of his shining our hearts poureda bitter smoke. Sullen were we begun;sullen we lie forever in this ditch.'This litany they gargle in their throatsas if they sand, but lacked the words and pitch.

A backward glance can often lift the heart.

Art, as far as it is able, follows nature, as a pupil imitates his master; thus your art must be, as it were, God's grandchild.

The customs and fashions of men change like leaves on the bough, some of which go and others come.

The heavens call to you, and circle about you, displaying to you their eternal splendors, and your eye gazes only to earth.