In civil business; what first? boldness; what second and third? boldness: and yet boldness is a child of ignorance and baseness.

The cord breaketh at last by the weakest pull.

The divisions of science are not like different lines that meet in one angle, but rather like the branches of trees that join in one trunk.

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it.

All artists are vain, they long to be recognized and to leave something to posterity. They want to be loved, and at the same time they want to be free. But nobody is free.

Without friends the world is but a wilderness.

If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.