People never believe in volcanoes until the lava actually overtakes them.

Religious doctrines would do well to withdraw their pretension to be dealing with matters of fact. That pretension is not only the source of the conflicts of religion with science and the vain and bitter controversies of sects; it is also the cause of the impurity and incoherence of religion in the soul.

America is a young country with an old mentality.

I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty.

An artist may visit a museum but only a pedant can live there.

A fanatical imagination cannot regard God as just unless he is represented as infinitely cruel.

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