Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays.

The Greeks put us to shame not only by their simplicity, which is foreign to our age; they are at the same time our rivals, nay, frequently our models, in those very points of superiority from which we seek comfort when regretting the unnatural character of our manners. We see that remarkable people uniting at once fullness of form and fullness of substance, both philosophising and creating, both tender and energetic, uniting a youthful fancy to the virility of reason in a glorious humanity.

Modest humility is beauty's crown.

To be man's tender mate was woman born, and in obeying nature she best serves the purposes of heaven.

Culture, far from giving us freedom, only develops, as it advances, new necessities; the fetters of the physical close more tightly around us, so that the fear of loss quenches even the ardent impulse toward improvement, and the maxims of passive obedience are held to be the highest wisdom of life.

Life is earnest, art is gay.

The jest loses its point when he who makes it is the first to laugh.