How great seems human progress when we consider where it began, and how insignificant, when we contemplate the goals for which itstrives.

The present is never poetic as it serves necessity, necessity, however, is prosaic.

Even with limited intelligence, knowing oneself is not as difficult as some say, but to act according to what one has realized about oneself in real life is as difficult as practicing anything else, compared to theory.

Just as the queen bee, the highest-ranking, peerless creature of her hive, is surrounded by lowly drones to please her, whereas the workers produce honey, the same way is the one who sits on the throne an equal only to himself, and no one's companion.

The most irascible person is most likely to become apathetic in dangerous situations.

At certain times, men regard poetry merely as a bright flame, but to women it was, and always will be, a warm fire.

I am a woman, and even if I could proceed with harshness and rigidity, it would disgust me nonetheless.