It is pathetic to observe how lowly the motives are that religion, even the highest, attributes to the deity... To be given the best morsel, to be remembered, to be praised, to be obeyed blindly and punctiliously - these have been thought points of honor with the gods.

Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.

Beautiful things, when taste is formed, are obviously and unaccountably beautiful.

The mind of the Renaissance was not a pilgrim mind, but a sedentary city mind, like that of the ancients.

Saints cannot arise where there have been no warriors, nor philosophers where a prying beast does not remain hidden in the depths.

Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a vicarious immortality.

A simple life is its own reward.