Talent, will and genius are natural phenomena like the lake, the volcano, the mountain, the wind, the star, the cloud.

Gossiping is the plague of little towns.

I was born to love - but none of you wanted to believe it, and that misunderstanding was crucial in forming my character. It's true that nature was strangely inconsistent in giving me a warm heart, but also a face that was like a stone mask and a tongue that was heavy and slow. She refused me what she bestowed freely on even the most loutish of my fellow men. . . . People judged my inner character by my outer covering, and like a sterile fruit, I withered under the rough husk I couldn't slough off.

The most honest of men is the one who thinks and acts best, but the most powerful is the one who writes and speaks best.

It is always the best friends who are neglected and ignored.

Vanity is the quicksand of reason.

To be made evident, truth must be sought for; for of itself it is slow to appear, and between ourselves and God the obstacles are so many!