The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them.

A friend whose hopes we cannot satisfy is a friend we would rather have as an enemy.

There are men who desire power simply for the sake of the happiness it will bring; these belong chiefly to political parties.

You gave him an opportunity of showing greatness of character and he did not seize it. He will never forgive you for that.

What is the greatest thing ye can experience? It is the hour of great contempt. The hour in which even your happiness becometh loathsome unto you, and so also your reason and virtue.

All in all, punishment hardens and renders people more insensible; it concentrates; it increases the feeling of estrangement; it strengthens the power of resistance.

In intercourse with scholars and artists one readily makes mistakes of opposite kinds: in a remarkable scholar one not infrequently finds a mediocre man; and often, even in a mediocre artist, one finds a very remarkable man.