I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.

There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.

The gold-digger is the enemy of the honest laborer, whatever checks and compensations there may be. It is not enough to tell me that you worked hard to get your gold. So does the Devil work hard. The way of transgressors may be hard in many respects.

All that is told of the sea has a fabulous sound to an inhabitant of the land and all its products have a certain fabulous quality, as if they belonged to another planet.

When a noble deed is done, who is likely to appreciate it? They who are noble themselves.

In accumulating property for ourselves or our posterity, in founding a family or a state, or acquiring fame even, we are mortal; but in dealing with truth we are immortal, and need fear no change nor accident.