Every man must walk to the beat of his own drummer.

In those days, when my hands were much employed, I read but little, but the least scraps of paper which lay on the ground, my holder, or tablecloth, afforded me as much entertainment, in fact answered the same purpose as the Iliad.

For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.

The life without men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?

The phenomena of the year take place every day in a pond on a small scale. Every morning, generally speaking, the shallow water isbeing warmed more rapidly than the deep, though it may not be made so warm after all, and every evening it is being cooled more rapidly until the morning. The day is an epitome of the year. The night is the winter, the morning and evening are the spring and fall, and the noon is the summer. The cracking and booming of the ice indicate a change of temperature.

That government is best which governs least.

Unpremeditated music is the true gauge which measures the current of our thoughts; the very undertow of our life's stream.