When an acquaintance goes by I often step back from my window, not so much to spare him the effort of acknowledging me as to spare myself the embarrassment of seeing that he has not done so.

It is almost everywhere the case that soon after it is begotten the greater part of human wisdom is laid to rest in repositories.

To receive applause for works which do not demand all our powers hinders our advance towards a perfecting of our spirit. It usually means that thereafter we stand still.

The greater part of human misery is caused by indolence.

A book is a mirror: if an ape looks into it an apostle is hardly likely to look out.

Many intelligent people, when about to write . . . , force on their minds a certain notion about style, just as they screw up their faces when they sit for their portraits.

A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.