To enjoy a thing exclusively is commonly to exclude yourself from the true enjoyment of it.

We are double-edged blades, and every time we whet our virtue the return stroke straps our vice. Where is the skillful swordsman who can give clean wounds, and not rip up his work with the other edge?

Simplicity is the peak of civilization.

How important is a constant intercourse with nature and the contemplation of natural phenomena to the preservation of moral and intellectual health!

With a little more deliberation in the choice of their pursuits, all men would perhaps become essentially students and observers, for certainly their nature and destiny are interesting to all alike.

And if the civilized man's pursuits are no worthier than the savage's, if he is employed the greater part of his life in obtaininggross necessaries and comforts merely, why should he have a better dwelling than the former?

If all were as it seems, and men made the elements their servants for noble ends!