Historical investigation has for its aim to fix the order and character of events throughout past time and in all places. The task is frankly superhuman.

Language is like money, without which specific relative values may well exist and be felt, but cannot be reduced to a common denominator.

Spirituality lies in regarding existence merely as a vehicle for contemplation, and contemplation merely a vehicle for joy.

Happiness is impossible, and even inconceivable, to a mind without scope and without pause, a mind driven by craving, pleasure, or fear. To be happy, you must be reasonable, or you must be tamed. You must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world and what things in it can really serve you. To be happy, you must be wise.

The body is an instrument, the mind its function, the witness and reward of its operation.

The Bible is a wonderful source of inspiration for those who don't understand it.

The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to condor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain hatred of the rest of the world.