The beautification of the world is not a work of nature, but a work of art, then it involves an artist.

True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.

The vulgar man is always the most distinguished, for the very desire to be distinguished is vulgar.

It is the friction of two spiritual things, of tradition and invention, or of substance and symbol, from which the mind takes fire. The creeds condemned as complex have something like the secret of sex; they can breed thoughts.

A man is angry at a libel because it is false, but at a satire because it is true.

It is the chief value of legend to mix up the centuries while preserving the sentiment.

Doing nothing is sometimes one of the highest of the duties of man.