Every man speaks of public opinion, and means by public opinion, public opinion minus his opinion.

Destiny is but a phrase of the weak human heart - the dark apology for every error. The strong and virtuous admit no destiny. On earth conscience guides; in heaven God watches. And destiny is but the phantom we invoke to silence the one and dethrone the other.

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.

The greenhorn is the ultimate victor in everything; it is he that gets the most out of life.

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read.

The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.

The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.