Man is a masterpiece of creation, if only because no amount of determinism can prevent him from believing that he acts as a free being.

What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears...as easily as we open and shut our eyes.

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.

He was always smoothing and polishing himself, and in the end he became blunt before he was sharp.

To do just the opposite is also a form of imitation.

It often takes more courage to change one's opinion than to stick to it.

We have to believe that everything has a cause, as the spider spins its web in order to catch flies. But it does this before it knows there are such things as flies.