The philosopher's conception of things will, above all, be truer than other men's, and his philosophy will subordinate all the circumstances of life. To live like a philosopher is to live, not foolishly, like other men, but wisely and according to universal laws.

To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery.

Do not suffer your life to be taken by newspapers.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.

Events, circumstances, etc., have their origin in ourselves. They spring from seeds which we have sown.

In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, "memoirs to serve for a history," which is but materials to serve for a mythology.

I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.