If you are in doubt whether to write a letter or not, don't. And the advice applies to many doubts in life besides that of letter writing.

Remedy your deficiencies,and your merits will take care of themselves.

Art employs method for the symmetrical formation of beauty, as science employs it for the logical exposition of truth; but the mechanical process is, in the last, ever kept visibly distinct, while in the first it escapes from sight amid the shows of color and the curves of grace.

Better than fame is still the wish for fame, the constant training for a glorious strife.

He who doth not smoke hath either known no great griefs, or refuseth himself the softest consolation, next to that which comes from heaven.

The poet in prose or verse - the creator - can only stamp his images forcibly on the page in proportion as he has forcibly felt, ardently nursed, and long brooded over them.

Master books, but do not let them master you.