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.

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.

It is astonishing how much the word infinitely is misused: everything is infinitely more beautiful, infinitely better, etc. The concept must have something pleasing about it, or its misuse could not have become so general.

Men still have to be governed by deception.

If you are going to build something in the air it is always better to build castles than houses of cards.

We say that someone occupies an official position, whereas it is the official position that occupies him.

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