If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me.

I have thought there was some advantage even in death, by which we mingle with the herd of common men.

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.

The fruits eaten temperately need not make us ashamed of our appetites, nor interrupt the worthiest pursuits. But put an extra condiment into your dish, and it will poison you.

A true poem is distinguished not so much by a felicitous expression, or any thought it suggests, as by the atmosphere which surrounds it. Most have beauty of outline merely, and are striking as the form and bearing of a stranger; but true verses come toward us indistinctly, as the very breath of all friendliness, and envelop us in their spirit and fragrance.

When I consider how, after sunset, the stars come out gradually in troops from behind the hills and woods, I confess that I could not have contrived a more curious and inspiring sight.

Live the life you've dreamed.