There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor.

People who feel themselves to be exiles in this world are mightily inclined to believe themselves citizens of another.

Religion in its humility restores man to his only dignity, the courage to live by grace.

Does the thoughtful man suppose that...the present experiment in civilization is the last world we will see?

Boston was a moral and intellectual nursery, always busy applying first principles to trifles.

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.

What brings enlightenment is experience, in the sad sense of this word--the pressure of hard facts and unintelligible troubles, making a man rub his eyes in his waking dream, and put two and two together. Enlightenment is cold water.