That is why all great men are modest: they consistently measure themselves not in comparison to other people but to the idea of perfection ever present in their minds, an ideal infinitely clearer and greater than any common people have, and they also realize how far they are from fulfilling their ideal.

The old man, especially if he is in society in the privacy of his thoughts, though he may protest the opposite, never stops believing that, through some singular exception of the universal rule, he can in some unknown and inexplicable way still make an impression on women.

There's no greater sign of being a poor philosopher and wise man than wanting all of life to be wise and philosophical.

The artist's conception of his art or the scientist's of his science is usually as great as his conception of his own worth is small.

In all climates, under all skies, man's happiness is always somewhere else.

The artisan or scientist or the follower of whatever discipline who has the habit of comparing himself not with other followers but with the discipline itself will have a lower opinion of himself, the more excellent he is.

Men are ready to suffer anything from others or from heaven itself, provided that, when it comes to words, they are untouched.