The more the merely human part of the poet remains a mystery, the more willing is the reverence given to his divine mission.

When a man is not amused, he feels an involuntary contempt for those who are.

Power is so characteristically calm, that calmness in itself has the aspect of strength.

He who esteems trifles for themselves is a trifler; he who esteems them for the conclusions to be drawn from them, or the advantage to which they can be put, is a philosopher.

Fate laughs at probabilities.

People praise us behind our backs, but we hear them not; few before our faces, and who is not suspicious of the truth of such praise?

The imagination acquires by custom a certain involuntary, unconscious power of observation and comparison, correcting its own mistakes, and arriving at precision of judgment, just as the outward eye is disciplined to compare, adjust, estimate, measure, the objects reflected on the back of its retina.