The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.

Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live on anyhow and in any shape; a spirit with any honor is not willing to live except in its own way, and a spirit with any wisdom is not over-eager to live at all.

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

Faith in the supernatural is a desperate wager made by man at the lowest ebb of his fortunes.

It is characteristic of spontaneous friendship to take on first, without enquiry and almost at first sight, the unseen doings and unspoken sentiments of our friends; the parts known give us evidence enough that the unknown parts cannot be much amiss.

Trust the man who hesitates in his speech and is quick and steady in action, but beware of long arguments and long beards.

The irrational in the human has something about it altogether repulsive and terrible, as we see in the maniac, the miser, the drunkard or the ape.