It gives liberty and breadth to thought, to learn to judge our own epoch from the point of view of universal history, history from the point of view of geological periods, geology from the point of view of astronomy.

The history of man is essentially zoological; it becomes human late in the day, and then only in the beautiful souls, the souls alive to justice, goodness, enthusiasm, and devotion. The angel shows itself rarely and with difficulty through the highly-organized brute.

Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.

The great majority of men are but tangled skeins, imperfect keyboards, so many specimens of restless or stagnant chaos--and what makes their situation almost hopeless is the fact that they take pleasure in it. There is no curing a sick man who believes himself in health.

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

The unfinished is nothing.

To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy.