Though my life is low, if my spirit looks upward habitually at an elevated angle, it is as if it were redeemed. When the desire to be better than we are is really sincere we are instantly elevated, and so far better already.

For a man to act himself, he must be perfectly free; otherwise he is in danger of losing all sense of responsibility or of self- respect.

Why should we be startled by death? Life is a constant putting off of the mortal coil - coat, cuticle, flesh and bones, all old clothes.

I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise.

Don't get to the end of your life and realize you have never lived.

So soon did we, wayfarers, begin to learn that man's life is rounded with the same few facts, the same simple relations everywhere, and it is vain to travel to find it new.