The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.

The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.

There are two consequences in history; an immediate one, which is instantly recognized, and one in the distance, which is not at first perceived. These consequences often contradict each other; ... look to the end of an accomplished fact, and you will see that it has always produced the contrary of what was expected from it.

An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.

Let us not disdain glory too much; nothing is finer, except virtue. The height of happiness would be to unite both in this life.

We must not always try to plumb the depths of the human heart; the truths it contains are among those that are best seen in half-light or in perspective.

A moral character is attached to autumnal scenes; the leaves falling like our years, the flowers fading like our hours, the clouds fleeting like our illusions, the light diminishing like our intelligence, the sun growing colder like our affections, the rivers becoming frozen like our lives--all bear secret relations to our destinies.