However much we admire the orator's occasional bursts of eloquence, the noblest written words are commonly as far behind or abovethe fleeting spoken language as the firmament with its stars is behind the clouds.

I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all incumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run.

The book has never been written which is to be accepted without any allowance.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

Many old people receive pensions for no other reason, it seems to me, but as a compensation for having lived a long time ago.

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

I will not allow mere names to make distinctions for me, but still see men in herds for all them.