People who have read a good deal rarely make great discoveries. I do not say this in excuse of laziness, but because invention presupposes an extensive independent contemplation of things.

Erudition can produce foliage without bearing fruit.

It not seldom happens that in the purposeless rovings and wanderings of the imagination we hunt down such game as can be put to use by our purposeful philosophy in its well-ordered household.

Great men too make mistakes, and many among them do it so often that one is almost tempted to call them little men.

To be content with life or to live merrily, rather all that is required is that we bestow on all things only a fleeting, superficial glance; the more thoughtful we become the more earnest we grow.

Men still have to be governed by deception.

To err is human also in so far as animals seldom or never err, or at least only the cleverest of them do so.