Every man has within him only one life and one nature ... It behooves a man to look within himself and turn to the best dedication possible those endowments he has from his Maker. You do no wrong in questioning what once you held to be right for you, if now it has come to seem wrong. Put away all thought of being bound. We do not want you bound. No one who is not free can give freely.

To have faith in Divine protection is good, but even beter if backed by the pratical assistance heaven has a right to expect from sensible mortals.

Too much trust is folly, in an imperfect world.

Youth is no less vulnerable, by the very quality it has of making the heart ache that beholds and has lost it.

Death, after all, is the common expectation from birth. Neither heroes nor cowards can escape it.

It takes a lot to wound a man without illusions.

Nothing is more pleasing and engaging than the sense of having conferred benefits. Not even the gratification of receiving them.