Not in the knowledge of things without, but in the perfection of the soul within, lies the empire of man aspiring to be more than man.

The same refinement which brings us new pleasures exposes us to new pains.

A man who cannot win fame in big own age will have a very small chance of winning it from posterity. True, there are some half-dozen exceptions to this truth among millions of myriads that attest it; but what man of common sense would invest any large amount of hope in so unpromising a lottery?

The desire of excellence is the necessary attribute of those who excel. We work little for a thing unless we wish for it.

The heart of a girl is like a convent--the holier the cloister, the more charitable the door.

The law is a gun, which if it misses a pigeon always kills a crow; if it does not strike the guilty, it hits someone else. As every crime creates a law, so in turn every law creates a crime.

Strive, while improving your one talent, to enrich your whole capital as a man. It is in this way that you escape from the wretched narrow-mindedness which is the characteristic of every one who cultivates his specialty alone.