There can hardly be a stranger commodity in the world than books. Printed by people who don't understand them; sold by people who don't understand them; bound, criticized and read by people who don't understand them; and now even written by people who don't understand them.

Non cogitant, ergo non sunt.

The "second sight" possessed by the Highlanders in Scotland is actually a foreknowledge of future events. I believe they possess this gift because they don't wear trousers.

People often become scholars for the same reason they become soldiers: simply because they are unfit for any other station. Their right hand has to earn them a livelihood; one might say they lie down like bears in winter and seek sustenance from their paws.

Libraries can in general be too narrow or too wide for the soul.

God created man in His own image, says the Bible; philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs.

Man can acquire accomplishments or he can become an animal, whichever he wants. God makes the animals, man makes himself.