It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to standing upon the vantage ground of truth . . . and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below.

Riches are for spending.

Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other.

None of the affections have been noted to fascinate and bewitch but envy.

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.

the serpent if it wants to become the dragon must eat itself.

An artist must learn to be nourished by his passions and by his despairs.