The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.

Never undertake anything unless you have the heart to ask Heaven's blessing on your undertaking.

Man loves company - even if it is only that of a small burning candle.

How might letters be most efficiently copied so that the blind might read them with their fingers?

There is something in our minds like sunshine and the weather, which is not under our control. When I write, the best things come to me from I know not where.

Much can be inferred about a man from his mistress: in her one beholds his weaknesses and his dreams.

Do we write books so that they shall merely be read? Don't we also write them for employment in the household? For one that is read from start to finish, thousands are leafed through, other thousands lie motionless, others are jammed against mouseholes, thrown at rats, others are stood on, sat on, drummed on, have gingerbread baked on them or are used to light pipes.