To be misunderstood even by those whom one loves is the cross and bitterness of life. It is the secret of that sad and melancholy smile on the lips of great men which so few understand.

To win true peace, a man needs to feel himself directed, pardoned, and sustained by a supreme power, to feel himself in the right road, at the point where God would have him be - in order with God and the universe. This faith gives strength and calm.

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life.

Common sense is calculation applied to life.

Life is an apprenticeship to the constant renunciations, to the steady failure of our claims, our hopes, our powers, our liberty.

In order to see Christianity, one must forget all the Christians.

Order is a great person's need and their true well being.