The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and struggles to the light amid the thorns.

Intolerance is a form of egotism, and to condemn egotism intolerantly is to share it.

A country without a memory is a country of madmen.

Love, whether sexual, parental, or fraternal, is essentially sacrificial, and prompts a man to give his life for his friends.

The primary use of conversation is to satisfy the impulse to talk.

The passions grafted on wounded pride are the most inveterate; they are green and vigorous in old age.

... so in love the heart surrenders itself entirely to the one being that has known how to touch it. That being is not selected; it is recognised and obeyed.