A thousand things advance; nine hundred and ninety nine retreat; That is progress.

Joy is the vital air of the soul.

Liberty, equality - bad principles! The only true principle for humanity is justice; and justice to the feeble is protection and kindness.

Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.

Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both.

Our greatest illusion is to believe that we are what we think ourselves to be.