The great happiness of life, I find, after all, to consist in the regular discharge of some mechanical duty.

Every great mind seeks to labor for eternity. All men are captivated by immediate advantages; great minds alone are excited by the prospect of distant good.

Appearance should never attain reality, And if nature conquers, then must art retire.

Truth suffers no loss if a vehement youth fails in finding it, in the same way that virtue and religion suffer no detriment if a criminal denies them.

Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain.

Foster the beautiful, and every hour thou tallest new flowers to birth.

Man is an imitative creature.