We are armed with language adequate to describe each leaf of the filed, but not to describe human character.

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.

Whatever beauty we behold, the more it is distant, serene, and cold, the purer and more durable it is. It is better to warm ourselves with ice than with fire.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

The poet uses the results of science and philosophy, and generalizes their widest deductions.

I do not judge men by anything they can do. Their greatest deed is the impression they make on me.

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character.